


Hoshi ga Hoshii desu

by lucathia



Series: Hoshi ga Hoshii desu [1]
Category: Shaman King
Genre: Amnesia, Gen, Post-Canon, word count: 10000+
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-21
Updated: 2005-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 10:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 45
Words: 69,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucathia/pseuds/lucathia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I want the stars"--An amnesic Hao only remembers that the word "Hoshi" is special to him. Found unconscious in America, Hao takes on the name of Hoshi and eventually returns to Japan. This is Hao's story after the anime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pitch Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Disclaimer: **I do not own Shaman King.
> 
> **A/N:** The title of this fic is "Hoshi ga Hoshii desu" which means something along the lines of "I want the stars." Hoshi translates to "star" and "hoshii" translates to "want" or "desire." Well, so guess who this fic is about? Asakura Hao of course.
> 
> This fic is set after the end of the anime series, so beware of spoilers. This fic doesn't follow the manga, but I do take some tidbits from the manga as well. This fic was written between 2004 and 2005 before the complete edition of the manga was released.
> 
> **Definitions of the names:  
> **tsuki – moon  
> sora – sky  
> hoshi – star

Pitch black.

Except for the few dots of light in the darkness, it was pitch black.

He closed his eyes and opened them, but all he could see was...darkness. There wasn't anything but darkness and those dots of wavering light. He could barely see those dots of light anyway. They were so tiny. So tiny...

What were they called again? Hoshi? Stars?

He wanted to laugh, but he found that he couldn't. He couldn't laugh because he couldn't open his mouth. He tried to touch his mouth, but he couldn't do that either. He couldn't raise his hand to his mouth. He tried to look at something other than the darkness, but he couldn't turn his head.

He blinked.

That was all that he could do. Blink.

He couldn't move at all.

He took a deep breath and felt his eyes closing against his will.

The wind gently played with the boy, caressing his face as he fell into unconsciousness.

Drip.

Drip.

Wet and cool.

His fingers twitched.

His eyelids fluttered.

"Kaachan! He's waking up."

Slowly, he opened his eyes, wincing when the bright sunlight blinded him. The cool cloth placed over his forehead fell when he turned his head away from the brightness.

His blurred vision focused on the source of the voice. A young boy. The young boy bounced up when his mother entered the room.

"You're finally awake," noted the woman. She was probably in her thirties or forties. She was the type that blended in, the type that didn't attract much attention. She wasn't stunningly beautiful, but she did have warm eyes.

The woman continued.

"I found you on the ground this morning. You were unconscious." The woman shook her head. "I'm surprised you're okay right now. You could have easily become sick, falling unconscious outside on a cold night."

She stopped talking.

The silence seemed to suggest that he was supposed to answer her implied question--Why was he unconscious?

He stayed silent though.

The woman frowned and decided that she had to ask.

"Why were you outside? Unconscious as well?"

He shook his head.

"You don't want to tell me?" The woman sighed. "Well, if that's the case, I guess it's fine...but I'm worried about you. Why were you outside all alone?"

He shook his head again.

The woman frowned again. "I can't understand what you mean if all you do is shake your head. But never mind. As I've said before, it's fine if you don't want to tell me. After all, we are strangers."

The little boy, who was silent until now, suddenly cut into the conversation. Unable to contain his eagerness anymore, he exclaimed, "My name is Tsuki. Now that you know my name, we aren't strangers anymore!" He beamed and pointed at his mom. "This is my 'kaachan. Her name's Sora." The little boy jumped up and down. "What's your name?"

_What's your name?_

_What's your name?_

_What's your name?_

The little boy's eager question echoed within his head. _What's your name?_ Colors flashed through his mind. A blinding light and then pitch black. _What's your name?_ The question vibrated in his head. Darkness swirled around. Only darkness. The rest...he couldn't remember. All he remembered was the darkness. The blinding light and then the darkness. The rest was blank. His mind was a blank slate.

The little boy became impatient. "Can't you even tell me your name?"

Blank. All blank. He couldn't remember anything. He couldn't remember the reason he was unconscious, nor could he remember his appearance. He couldn't remember his name either. But he did have a feeling that his name started with an "H." Other than that, all he remembered was the darkness.

Pitch black.

There wasn't anything but darkness and those dots of wavering light.

Yes...there were those dots of wavering light that he could barely see.

He glanced at the little boy. His lips parted.

"Hoshi. My name is Hoshi."


	2. My Name is Hoshi

"Hoshi. My name is Hoshi."

The little boy's eyes darkened. The used-to-be unconscious boy wondered why saying "Hoshi" had this effect on the little boy. He turned to the mother and found a similar brooding expression on her face.

_He said Hoshi. What a coincidence. Or is this encounter a gift from God?_

The boy who said that his name was Hoshi winced and brought his hand to his face. He just heard voices in his head. Was he going crazy? But wait...that sounded like the mother's voice. He looked towards her, but she didn't seem to have opened her mouth.

_Hoshi-niichan..._

This time it was the little boy's voice! He narrowed his eyes at the little boy, wondering what these two people were doing to his mind.

Sora, the mother, broke out of her daze before her young son did. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. "You said your name is Hoshi?"

He nodded slowly.

The mother smiled slightly, a teardrop slowly rolling down her face.

Alarmed, he tried to sit up, but once up, the pain in his head became unbearable. Sora quickly pushed him back down.

_Hoshi...I miss him so much..._

The pounding in his head became worse each time he heard their voices.

_Niichan..._

Argh...why wouldn't they shut up and let him rest in peace? Why did it look like they saw someone who they thought were dead? Why was the little boy calling him BROTHER? Why was that stupid woman crying?

The woman wiped away her tear and smiled at him. "I'm sorry to alarm you like that. You haven't done anything wrong. It's just that..."

_Hoshi is the name of my first son...the one who passed away._

He narrowed his eye. He probably shouldn't have said that his name was Hoshi. His name probably wasn't Hoshi anyway. So why did he say Hoshi and cause all these unnecessary reactions?

The woman didn't complete her sentence, but he already knew what she was going to say anyway. Instead of urging her to explain, he closed his eyes and soon drifted to sleep.

When he woke up the next day, he found that the little boy Tsuki had fallen asleep in the wooden chair next to him. He slowly sat up and watched the boy's peaceful expression. Hoshi's mind was blank. He felt that there was something he was supposed to be doing. He knew that he was missing something as well, something that had accompanied him for a long time, but he didn't remember what he was supposed to be doing and he didn't remember what he lost.

While he watched Tsuki sleep peacefully, Hoshi felt oddly peaceful. Although it felt wrong that he couldn't remember anything...it somehow felt right at the same time. At least it was quiet now.

He slid his legs off the bed and stood up. Glancing around, he found what he wanted in the corner of the room. He walked over with soft steps.

When he reached the mirror, he slowly extended his hands towards the small piece of glass. He closed his hands over the sides of the mirror, and then closed his eyes. He brought the mirror in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes.

A young face. Blank eyes that could pass off for innocence. Long dark hair up to his waist. A tan skin color. A small mouth.

Holding the mirror in his right hand, he touched his reflection's eyes with his left hand.

He didn't recognize himself. He had no idea that he would look like this...because he felt so much older than what his reflection implied. That young face, unmarred by wrinkles or worry. Those innocent looking eyes. That long, dark hair without a single strand of gray. That healthy skin color. Each physical aspect of himself contrasted with what he had in mind.

Why was it that...although he felt so old...

...he looked so young?


	3. The Photo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitions of some Japanese that comes up in this chapter:  
> kaachan – mom (informal)  
> niichan – older brother (informal)  
> Itadakimasu – I'm ready to receive (more like giving your thanks before you eat)  
> anata – you dear (used mostly by wives in addressing their husbands)

He stared at the mirror, at the stranger in the mirror. Closing his eyes, he placed the mirror down.

He didn't recognize himself. How sad was that? He opened his eyes, staring at nothing in particular. He couldn't recognize himself...

Although lost in disturbing thoughts, his stomach grumbled.

His eyebrow twitched. His stomach sure didn't like to think. It didn't care about all those complicated things. He threw back his head and laughed. Maybe he should live his life by following what his stomach tells him. Eat first. Think later. Why think that much about things you can't comprehend?

The little boy stirred. Apparently Hoshi's laugh woke him up. Tsuki rubbed his eyes and blinked at the empty bed.

"Hoshi-niichan?" Tuski's voice wavered.

_Did he leave us?_

Hoshi narrowed his eyes. Those voices were back. He only had peace for such a short period of time.

Tsuki glanced around the room and when his eyes landed on Hoshi, they lit up. Tsuki, either not noticing Hoshi's glare or just ignoring it, ran to Hoshi and hugged him.

He froze. That kid was hugging him. Hoshi's hands clenched together, about to summon his spir...his...his what? Hoshi stared blankly at the kid. He couldn't remember what he was going to do.

His stomach grumbled again.

Tsuki giggled and looked up at Hoshi-niichan. Hoshi-niichan's eyes were shadowed by his long long hair. But Hoshi-niichan's cheeks were visible and they were somewhat pinkish.

_Hoshi-niichan is very shy...if he's hungry, he should say something._

Hoshi's slightly pink cheeks became redder...but it probably was because of frustration and not embarrassment. Hoshi frowned. He never got frustrated...at least he didn't think he was the type to get frustrated.

Tsuki beamed at Hoshi. "Hoshi-niichan, 'kaachan can make some food for you! Come on!"

Tsuki pulled Hoshi out of the room and through the house. Hoshi glanced at his surroundings. The mother and her son lived in a small house with wooden walls. There was little furnishing, except for a table and a few wooden chairs. A framed photo was placed at the far side of the house, but the way the sunlight shone cast shadows onto the photo. Reminding himself to look at the photo later, Hoshi let Tsuki pull him to one of the chairs.

Tsuki beamed once again. "Wait here! I'm going to get 'Kaachan!"

After Tsuki exuberantly asked his 'kaachan to make some food for Hoshi-niichan, he helped place the food on the table. Although Hoshi didn't want to admit that he was extremely hungry and that the food looked delicious, his stomach decided to admit that for him by grumbling loudly. Hoshi frowned but decided not to argue with his stomach. After all, he hadn't eaten for quite some time.

"Itadakimasu." Hoshi picked up the chopsticks and begun to eat. He hadn't eaten this type of food for awhile...sushi, lots of raw fish and...

Hoshi paused. He never noticed it before. He looked up at the woman and the boy.

"Are you Japanese?"

The mother smiled slightly. "Yes I am, but my friends have always said that I don't look very Japanese."

Hoshi continued eating. He had just asked a very stupid question. What if he were in Japan right now? It would have been stupid to ask that woman if she were Japanese. Besides, the names "Tsuki" and "Sora" were both Japanese names. Tsuki even called him "niichan" and his mother "kaachan." However, Tsuki's crystal blue eyes signified that he certainly wasn't Japanese, or at least only half.

The woman seemed to be lost in her thoughts, glancing towards the shadowed photo at the far side of the room. _I've been living here for twelve years already. Time passes so quickly...Anata...it's been two years since you and Hoshi both left us. Tsuki has been down for a long time, but the appearance of that boy named Hoshi seems to have revived him. He was so happy to see that boy wake up. I guess he was scared that the boy would sleep on forever...just like you._

Hoshi glanced at the shadowed photo. So that was a photo of either the woman's husband or her son. Both dead. Hoshi chewed and swallowed his food, then he glanced at Tsuki, who was beaming. That little boy didn't look at all depressed at the moment.

The woman stopped staring at the photo and focused her attention back to Hoshi. "I presume that you are Japanese as well? Since your name is Hoshi and you said 'Itadakimasu' before you started eating."

Hoshi paused. Since "Hoshi" was the first word that came to mind, that meant that he was probably Japanese.

Hoshi nodded.

Sora seemed relieved. "That means I can speak to you in Japanese. My English really isn't that great...I mean I can speak it fine, but it feels weird to me. I prefer speaking in Japanese more."

_My husband was American...but he let me speak Japanese with him. He spoiled me..._

Hoshi blinked. She was speaking in English before? He didn't even notice. Well, he was probably in America then, since her husband was American and she spoke English to him all this time.

Sora smiled widely. "Great! Well, finish eating and we'll find some clothes for you. Your clothes are very tattered."

Was she speaking in Japanese now? It sounded the same to him. Weird...but oh well.

After he finished eating, Sora left with Tsuki to look for clothes. Hoshi would have gone with them, but he wanted to see the photo first. So instead of following the mother and her son, he told them that he wanted to rest more.

Once alone, Hoshi approached the photo. As he stepped closer, he noticed the cracked wooden frame. The photo was still shadowed, so Hoshi reached out to the photo to hold it next to the window.

However, as soon as his hand touched the frame, a shiver went through his arm. Hoshi's eyes widened. The photo, although still in the shadows, lit up even though there wasn't any sunlight around. It was as if the photo was glowing on its own, glowing an eerie blue. Suddenly, the photo was clear.

Two men smiled grimly back at him. They weren't very happy, but they tried to smile for the picture. He looked at the younger one, the one who was probably the Hoshi that the mom was thinking about. The boy was most likely around seventeen. He had short, black hair and cool, dark eyes. In his arms, he held a tabby cat.

His eyes glanced over the father and the son for a little, but they remained on the cat the longest. The cat looked a little weird...it was...glowing.

He poked his finger at the cat.

"Meorowwwwwwww!!" Hoshi almost dropped the photo as wind swirled around him. He tried looking for the source of the noise, but there was too much smoke and it was clouding his vision. When the smoke finally cleared, his eyes landed on...

A transparent tabby cat.

It was the same cat as the one in the photo.


	4. The Cat

Hoshi stared at the cat. It reminded him of someone he knew before, but the name escaped him. The cat, if possible, was glaring at him.

Hoshi held out his hand, but the cat just looked at him. Deciding that the cat didn't really trust him, Hoshi was about to take back his hand when the cat pounced on him.

Hoshi raised his eyebrows, expecting to feel the weight of the cat on him. However, he felt the cat pass right through him.

The cat was a spirit.

With the sudden realization, he turned around and knelt down to look at the snarling cat. His eyes softened and he spoke softly.

"How did you die?"

He concentrated on his hands and imagined them touching the fur of the cat. He then reached out and stroked the cat. Somehow his hands didn't pass through the cat this time. He actually felt the soft fur of the cat.

The cat calmed down a bit.

He took that as a good sign and continued running his hands through the cat's fur. He scratched the cat behind the ears. The cat gave a content purr. He smiled slightly.

"Hoshi-niichan! Here are some clothes for you!"

He stopped the stroking and glanced up at the young boy. Tsuki had bundles of clothes in his arms. The boy dropped them on the floor where the cat was. Tsuki obviously couldn't see the cat. The cat hissed and jumped onto the table to avoid the heavy bundle of clothes, even though the clothes would have passed right through the cat.

Che...stupid human.

Hoshi blinked. Where had that thought come from? He closed his eyes and repeated the words in his head, but they didn't trigger any more memories. He opened his eyes and resigned himself to sorting through the clothes.

Jeans and t-shirts. More jeans and t-shirts. Wasn't there anything else other than jeans and t-shirts?

Tsuki beamed and held up a shirt with a star pattern. "Hoshi-niichan, how 'bout this shirt?"

_My nii-chan really liked it too...since it fit his name._

He didn't want to admit that he liked the shirt. But, seeing the hopeful look on the little boy's face, Hoshi grudgingly took the shirt.

After Hoshi changed from his tattered clothing to a pair of plain, worn out jeans and the star-patterned shirt, he found Tsuki's eyes upon him. Hoshi turned around warily, wondering what the little boy wanted this time.

_I wonder why Hoshi-niichan has such long hair...it makes him look like a girl!_

Hoshi's eyebrow twitched. He so did not look like a girl. And besides, if that boy had something he wanted to say, he should have just said it out loud!

_His hair is really pretty though...but doesn't it get in his way?_

Hoshi unintentionally reached towards his hair, fingering one lock of it. Long hair was a part of him. He felt like he always had long hair. At least that kid thought it was pretty. He could forgive him for the first statement.

"Did you have a cat before?" Hoshi suddenly asked Tsuki.

Tsuki nodded somewhat sadly. "Yeah, it was my 'niichan's cat. It was named Hoshisuke after him. It sort of disappeared."

Hoshi looked at the table where the cat was and whispered, "Nice to meet you, Hoshisuke."

That night while they were eating dinner, Hoshi watched the smiles on Tsuki and Tsuki's mother, Sora's faces. Their glowing faces triggered a warm feeling inside of him. What was that warm feeling? It felt so nice.

"Want some more?" asked Sora, who turned soft brown eyes towards Hoshi. She smiled encouragingly.

Hoshi nodded and returned the smile.

* * *

A few peaceful months passed. Hoshi enjoyed the quiet days. Sometimes, he lay on the soft grass in the daytime with the cat by his side. Hoshisuke was really attached to him now, following him everywhere. Granted, he was the only person who could see it. Outside during the day, he was able to enjoy the cool breezes and the warm sunlight. The warmth of the sun sometimes lulled him to sleep.

As the sun set, Hoshi usually remained outside, unafraid of the biting cold. He enjoyed the nights even more than the days, since at these times the stars came out. He watched the tiny, twinkling stars and sometimes glanced towards the changing moon. Everyday, he marveled at the beauty of the seemingly tiny stars. They glowed and sparkled, challenging him to stop thinking that they were small. He watched the moon as it grew from a sliver into a round, full moon.

Sometimes, so captivated by the calm of nature, Hoshi forgot about eating. Tsuki would always come bounding out of the house to pull him inside. Then, Sora would give him a little lecture about the importance of eating regularly for a growing teenage boy. Somehow, Sora accepted Hoshi into the family without any more questioning about his past or where he came from. Tsuki was the happiest with the arrangement. After all, he suddenly had a new older brother to play with.

It was during one of these times when Hoshi was playing with Tsuki that Tsuki climbed into a really high tree and couldn't get down. They were playing hide-and-seek outside, where the only good places to hide were in the bushes and the trees. Tsuki decided to climb a tall tree to stay out of Hoshi's sight.

Hoshi was always able to tell where Tsuki hid. He could somehow sense the little boy's whereabouts. Just as Hoshi was looking up to tell Tsuki that he found him, Tsuki stepped on a weak branch.

Crack!

Hoshi's eyes widened as he saw the little boy begin to fall. He held out his hand.

"Spirit of..!" He paused. He said it again...Spirit of...what was he trying to call to him? Whatever it was, it didn't exist anymore.

He looked down at cat by his feet.

"Help me, Hoshisuke."

The cat meowed and jumped onto Hoshi's hand. It turned into a spirit ball.

A spirit ball? Hoshi had no time to ponder anymore. He let his body take over, hoping that his body still remembered what to do.

"Hoshisuke! _Hyou gattai_!" Hoshi merged with the spirit of the cat. He felt the cat's mind within him. He closed his eyes, imagining the tree trunk. It was too easy to climb.

Opening his eyes wide, Hoshi dashed towards the tree trunk and literally ran up the tree trunk towards Tsuki. He felt the wind rushing past his ears as he dashed up at inhuman speed. He held out his arms and caught Tsuki. He then jumped off the tree trunk and landed gracefully on the ground.

Tsuki's eyes were wide. He felt adrenaline from falling and also overwhelming awe at Hoshi-niichan's abilities.

"How did you do that?" he asked wondrously.

Hoshi winked and put his index finger against his lips.

"It's a secret."


	5. The Trip Home

Before he knew it, one peaceful year passed. Although he still couldn't remember his past, he led a content life. His life was quiet and uneventful. The only event that was out of the ordinary was when he merged with Hoshisuke and saved Tsuki. It was a boring life, but at least he had two caring family members.

He had a feeling that maybe it was better that he didn't remember. Who knew what his past was like? It couldn't have been too good, or else he wouldn't have been found unconscious.

Hoshi, content with his peaceful life, went to the breakfast table while yawning.

"Morning, Tsuki. Good morning, Sora." Hoshi greeted the two and sat down.

Sora smiled and served breakfast. Today's breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Hoshi grudgingly poked at the food. He didn't like American food that much.

While Hoshi was eating, he remembered that Sora had wanted to say something the night before. He glanced at her, wondering if she still wanted to say anything.

_Hoshi is always picky with his food._

Hoshi scowled. If that's all she wanted to say, he might as well tune out of her thoughts. Taking her thoughts in mind, Hoshi quickly finished off his breakfast, just to show that he certainly wasn't picky with his food.

As Hoshi stood up to take his plate to the sink, Sora's lips parted.

"I have something to tell the two of you."

Tsuki and Hoshi both looked at her questioningly.

Sora gave a nervous smile. "I don't know what you'll think of it, but..."

But what?

"I've decided it's time for us to move back to Japan."

...oh.

* * *

Hoshi packed his things in a suitcase. He didn't have much, and none of it belonged to him in the first place. His possessions were mostly the old things of Tsuki's brother. The only prized possession that he acquired in his one year stay was his spirit, Hoshisuke.

Sora made sure that everything was packed. Packing all of their possessions had taken an entire month. She also had to call a company in Japan to rent a house. All in all, it was very time-consuming. Hoshi didn't understand why Sora wanted to move to Japan. America was just fine. He could enjoy the outdoors, the sunlight, the moonlight, and the stars. He wasn't sure if he could do that in Japan. Even though he was most likely Japanese, he had no memories of Japan.

The last thing that Sora packed was the photograph of her husband and her son. After that, she closed the door to her small home and said "goodbye" to America.

The plane ride was a long one. Hoshi had a vague feeling that he had ridden a plane before, so he wasn't surprised when the plane was taking off. Tsuki, on the other hand, was jumpy during the entire take-off. When they were finally in the air, Tsuki calmed down and looked outside the window.

"Hoshi-niichan! Look at that! All the trees are so tiny!"

Hoshi glanced over Tsuki's shoulder, amused.

"Yeah, they are so tiny."

He fell asleep at some point during the ride, but he woke up to go to the toilet. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he grimaced.

His hair was so _frizzly_.

Damn.

He tried smoothing his hair with some water, but after the water dried, his hair became frizzed again. Giving up, Hoshi pulled his hair back and tied it up.

There was way too much static on planes.

Tsuki clung onto him during the landing. Hoshi gently placed his hands over Tsuki's smaller ones.

He leaned towards Tsuki's ears and whispered.

"It's all right. We're here." And home.

He blinked.

Home? Was Japan his home?

They settled down in Japan quite easily. Tsuki accepted their small but snug house, despite missing his old home terribly. Even Hoshi missed the old house, although he had only lived there for a year.

Sora seemed to like telling them stuff over the breakfast table. A week after they settled down, Sora was serving breakfast when she told them about school.

"I decided to move back to Japan because I don't want you two to forget that you are of Japanese descent." Sora smiled slightly. "Besides, our home in America was very isolated. I want you two to interact with other people more."

She looked at Hoshi and Tsuki. "Well, school is going to start in two weeks."

Hoshi blinked. School? What was that?

Sora continued. "Tsuki's going to go to elementary school for first grade, but Hoshi, I don't know what grade you're in..." She turned towards Hoshi, who was even more clueless than she was.

"Ah...I'm not sure either."

Sora frowned and remained silent for awhile before she spoke again. "Okay then...well, I'll take you to cram school. Hopefully after a few lessons, the sensei there will be able to determine your grade level."


	6. Cram School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my version of cram school, since I've never been to one. Anyway, the cram school that Hoshi is attending is not regular school. Cram school is not mandatory, but Hoshi is going there to try to figure out what grade level he should be in before normal school starts.

Hoshi opened his closet and stared at his clothes. Hm...what should he wear today? He was supposed to go to that cram school that Sora said would help him decide his grade level. He wondered what normal Japanese people wore to school.

For some reason, Tsuki's deceased older brother had a lot of green pants. They were the kind with brown spots on them...for camouflaging purposes probably. Hoshi either had the choice of jeans or those camouflaging green pants. He preferred his own red pants a whole lot more, but those were stashed at the bottom of his closet. They were part of his old life that he couldn't remember anymore. Since he couldn't remember anything even after one whole year, there was no point in wearing his old pants again. His tattered cloak and his earrings were at the bottom of the closet with his pants.

Tsuki's brother also had a lot of button up shirts. Hoshi thought they were okay, but he didn't like the buttons much. He preferred t-shirts a lot more, especially the shirt with a star on it.

But no matter how much he liked or disliked the other Hoshi's clothes, the clothes weren't his. He need to go out and buy some clothes of his own, but he didn't have any money. Maybe it was time to get a job.

He continued staring at the long row of green-spotted pants and frayed jeans. He then stared at the button up shirts and the t-shirts. Hoshi sighed and reached for the green-spotted pants and the button up shirts. He might as well wear some of the less frequently worn clothes. After all, those jeans were becoming terribly frayed and worn out.

He put the clothes on and went to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He pursed his lips upon seeing his buttoned-up shirt. It was way too formal. He unbuttoned his shirt.

Much better.

When he walked out of the bathroom, Tsuki bounded over.

"Hoshi-niichan, are you going to that school thing today?"

Hoshi nodded.

"Then you should cut your hair or else they'll think you're a girl!"

Hoshi scowled. Tsuki just continued beaming at him with such an INNOCENT expression. He shook his head, unable to say anything as a retort to Tsuki's comment. There was no way he'd cut his hair, so he did the next best thing. He tied his hair back.

"Better?"

Tsuki tilted his head to the side with a slight smile.

"I guess."

* * *

Hoshi walked slowly towards the boxy, white building. He was right that Japan wasn't like the countryside where he, Sora, and Tsuki had lived for the past year. For one, there weren't any open fields where he could lay down and enjoy the cool breezes and watch the twinkling stars. Japan was so crowded, so void of nature.

Everything was so boxy too. Every building was a box. The house they lived in was a box. The building he headed towards was a box, covered with white plaster. He grudgingly entered the boxy building and headed towards the office.

When he entered the office, a middle-aged woman glanced at him over a big pile of paper.

"You are?" asked the woman.

"Hoshi."

The woman searched through her list and highlighted Hoshi's name. She pursed her lips. "Hoshi what?"

He repeated his words.

"My name's Hoshi."

The woman gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm asking you for your first name and your family name."

Hoshi stared blankly at her.

"I don't have a family name."

The woman stared incredulously at the boy. "Don't lie to me, kid. Who doesn't have a family name? Everyone has one!"

Hoshi continued staring at her unwaveringly.

"Not if I don't have a family." His words weren't entirely true, nor were they entirely false.

There was a long silence and the woman finally averted her eyes from Hoshi's unwavering gaze.

"Fine, Hoshi then. I told Ichi-sensei that he will be getting a new student today. He covers a lot of subjects in his reviews, so you should be able to find out your level in each of the subjects.

Hoshi nodded and headed out of the office. Thank goodness he figured out how to tune out people's thoughts. If not, he would have been subjected to that woman's annoying thoughts about him.

He paused outside of Ichi-sensei's classroom, listening to the murmuring beyond the door. As he opened the door, the quiet murmur became audible speech.

"We will be reviewing over the basics of Algebra today..." The tall man paused upon hearing the door open. His eyes landed on Hoshi.

"Ah, that must be the new student."

Hoshi paused at the threshold of the door.

The tall man continued. "Don't stand there all day. Come to the front of the class and introduce yourself."

Hoshi immediately disliked the man's tone, but he obliged nonetheless. He slowly walked towards the front of the class, his gaze wandering over the countless faces of all the strangers in the classroom.

An extremely short boy, even shorter than Tsuki who was only six years old, suddenly stood up. His chair toppled over as he slammed his hands on his desk. His eyes were wide open, almost bulging out of his face.

"Yoh-kun?"

Hoshi blinked, wondering why the boy in the white-collared shirt had just called him "Yoh-kun." Did that mean that the short boy knew who he was?

The teacher glanced at the short boy and then back at Hoshi.

"Do you know Oyamada?"

Hoshi shook his head.

Ichi-sensei rose his eyebrows but commented no further on the matter. "Well, introduce yourself to the class."

Hoshi nodded and turned towards the class, his face impassive. He then gave the class a small nod of acknowledgment. "I'm Hoshi. Nice to meet you."

The short boy, whom Hoshi now knew was called "Oyamada," had a look of pure confusion on his face.

Ichi-sensei turned towards Hoshi. "No other comments about yourself? Okay then. For now, you can take the empty seat at the back of the room." The teacher nodded his head in the direction of the only empty seat in the classroom.

The teacher didn't even give him any time to answer his question. Oh well. It didn't matter anyway.

As the teacher continued with his lesson, Hoshi walked down the aisle towards his seat. He avoided looking towards Oyamada because the short boy's gaze was piercing. Instead, he concentrated on reaching his seat. When he walked past the short boy's seat, he could still feel the other's eyes glued to his back.

Again, Hoshi wondered if that Oyamada knew him.

But as Hoshi sat down, he wondered if he really wanted to find out.


	7. Exams

Hoshi ignored the class's murmur. He had to concentrate on taking his exams. In times like these, it wasn't necessary to be able to hear people's thoughts to know what they were thinking about. They whispered way too loudly.

"Why didn't he give us his family name?" That so-called whisper came from his left. It was from some random guy.

"I don't know. But that doesn't matter. He's cute!" That loud whisper came from the girl sitting next to the guy.

"His hair's so long. It looks so silky. I'd love to run my hands through his ponytail!"

Hoshi shuddered from that "dreamy" whisper. Maybe he should have taken Tsuki's advice, although the class's reaction to his long hair was different from what Tsuki had in mind. They didn't mistake him for a girl because of his long hair but rather wanted to "run their hands" through his silky hair.

"Bah. What's good about him? He's so girly."

Okay, never mind what he just thought. The people in the class thought the same way Tsuki said they would. Ignorant people.

Ichi-sensei truly did cover a wide range of subjects. Throughout the evening, the teacher managed to touch upon algebra, geometry, history, government, English, Japanese, writing, literature, and science. After the third subject switch, most of the class stopped paying attention to the teacher. Instead, they focused on gossiping about the new student. Hoshi didn't see how the teacher was able to fit all that information into such a small amount of lecturing time anyway. It was sort of surreal.

During one of the later subject switches, the teacher decided that Hoshi wouldn't be able to determine his grade level just by listening to him lecture. He seemed to have a better idea and quickly gathered numerous exam forms. What better way to find out a person's grade level than through exams? The stack of exam papers that Ichi-sensei handed Hoshi was at least four centimeters high. Hoshi had to start working immediately, his hand scribbling nonstop. So while the rest of the "studious" students continued "listening" to Ichi-sensei lecture, Hoshi was busy taking his exams and trying to tune out the class's whispers about him.

Clearly, Ichi-sensei didn't expect Hoshi to be able to finish the exams. Hoshi looked to be either a middle school student or a really young looking high school student. The exams that he gave Hoshi were at least college leveled. No student short of a genius would be able to answer all of the questions in the little time given.

So when Hoshi handed the exams to the sensei, completely filled out before the end of class, Ichi-sensei's eyes widened.

"Uh...did you finish all of it?"

Hoshi nodded.

Ichi-sensei was unable to believe Hoshi.

"ALL OF IT?"

Hoshi nodded again. "Of course. You gave them to me because I'm supposed to finish them, right?"

Ichi-sensei was bewildered. Well, just finishing the exams didn't mean that he got all the questions right! "I guess you can go now. Come back in a few days to check your results.

"That means I don't have to come before then, right?"

Ichi-sensei sighed. "You don't have to attend any more sessions for now."

Hoshi gave a little smile and left the class.

The girls gave a unified sigh. Not only was the new student cute, he was also smart!

All the boys in the class were jealous of the new student, all except Oyamada Manta. Manta's eyes followed Hoshi until Hoshi left the room.

Manta stood up with his humongous book in his hand, all ready to leave. "Ichi-sensei! Excuse me! I have to leave now!" He didn't wait for the teacher's permission and left immediately after his words.

The class blinked as Oyamada Manta rushed out of the classroom.

Ichi-sensei frowned and muttered under his breath. "Kids these days!"

* * *

Manta walked as fast as he could, trying to catch up with the new student. Manta had been busy looking through his book when the door to the classroom had slid open and the new student had walked in. "Yoh-kun" was the first thought that had popped into his mind when he laid his eyes upon the new student. Manta had been shocked because he had thought that Yoh-kun had suddenly decided to go to cram school with him! And that would be very unlike Yoh-kun because Yoh-kun just didn't like to do extra. Since cram school wasn't required, Yoh-kun wouldn't take it.

Manta mistook the new student for Yoh-kun because...well, they looked exactly the same and they wore similar clothing. The new student's hair was tied up, so he couldn't tell how long the new student's hair was at first glance. The clothing—greenish pants and short sleeves—reminded him of Yoh-kun. The only thing that was missing was Yoh-kun's orange headphones.

Manta's thoughts were all jumbled and became even more jumbled when the new student introduced himself as "Hoshi."

The new student wasn't Yoh, that he was certain of. But if the new student wasn't Yoh, then that meant he could only be...Hao. And that couldn't be possible either because Hao had been defeated and that meant that he was dead and...

Or was he?

He didn't want to think that Hao was still alive and about. He remembered how much danger everyone was in when they were battling Hao to prevent him from becoming Shaman King. If Hao had managed to become Shaman King...the world would be an extremely different place now...and certainly not a better one.

The new student didn't feel like Hao either though. For one, he didn't have that smirk that Hao always wore. And second, the new student was able to finish that fat stack of exams! Would Hao be able to do that? Hao didn't care about normal humans at all. What would he know about school and its subjects?

Manta didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he had to follow the new student. He couldn't let "Hoshi" out of his sight.

He finally saw Hoshi near the door of the building. Seeing Hoshi walk out of the building, Manta quickly followed him.

Once outside the building, Hoshi stretched and turned towards his left.

"Sorry, Hoshisuke. That was boring, wasn't it? Well, let's stay away from this boxy building for as long as we can." As Manta rushed through the door, Hoshi's face became visible. Manta noticed the wide smile across Hoshi's face.

Manta's eyes widened.

Not only did Hoshi's words sound like words Yoh-kun would say, that wide smile also reminded him of Yoh-kun.

It was like seeing a replica of Yoh-kun.

Hoshi certainly couldn't be Hao. He was way too different!

Could Yoh-kun, Hao, and Hoshi be triplets?

Manta shook his head. He was going insane with these thoughts.


	8. The Bridge

Once Hoshi left the boxy building, he stretched and turned towards his spirit, Hoshisuke.

"Sorry, Hoshisuke. That was boring, wasn't it? Well, let's stay away from this boxy building for as long as we can." The cat-spirit purred and nudged Hoshi's legs.

Hoshi smiled widely and knelt down to scratch the spirit behind its ears.

"Let's go home now."

Hoshi felt much better outside the building. For one, he wasn't confined into a small space filled with people. In the classroom, he sometimes felt like he was suffocating. Each one of the humans around him breathed the same air he breathed. They had to compete with each other for air, since oxygen was limited.

Why did humans like to jail themselves like that? It was as if humans liked to torture themselves.

Hoshi blinked.

Wasn't he human too?

Hoshi stopped in the middle of the bridge and stepped towards the railing. Hoshisuke hovered by Hoshi's side, wondering why Hoshi stopped so suddenly. The seemingly young boy peered over the railing. The sun was already setting, splaying rays of red, orange, and purple over him and his surroundings. He gazed at his own wavering reflection in the water as his reflection gazed back at him.

He certainly didn't look any different from the humans he had met in the past year. He waved at his reflection and watched his reflection wave back at him. Although he didn't look any different physically, he felt that he was different in some sort of bizarre way. There was something about him that set him apart from normal humans. And he couldn't remember what that something was.

Hoshisuke meowed softly next to Hoshi.

Hoshi gave a small smile. Well, he did know one thing that set him apart from the norm. He could see Hoshisuke and he could also merge with him. Hoshisuke was his spirit, and that wasn't something that just anyone could say.

Hoshi, somewhat content with the conclusion he came up with, gazed down at his reflection in the water once again. This time he noticed Hoshisuke's reflection by his side. It was strange that spirits had reflections. Maybe...maybe Hoshisuke had a reflection because Hoshi imagined the spirit's reflection to be there.

He saw Hoshisuke's reflection turn to the side. Hoshi glanced towards the building behind him.

Someone had been following them.

* * *

When Manta started wondering about the possibility of Yoh, Hao, and Hoshi being triplets, Manta got the image of the three of them standing together. The first, Yoh, would be lazily slouching and listening to his music. He would see Manta and eagerly wave at him. The second, Hao, would be wearing his poncho and grinning maniacally. He would raise his head and look down at Manta. The third, Hoshi, with his hair tied up, would be staring impassively past Manta. He would smile, but the smile wouldn't be for Manta.

Suddenly, the image of Hoshi merged with Hao's. The Hoshi in Manta's mind reached towards his ponytail and untied it. Hoshi closed his eyes and let his hair cascade down. When Hoshi opened his eyes, those eyes were narrowed. An exact image of Hao.

Then...the image of Hoshi disintegrated with Hao's and instead, merged with Yoh's. Hoshi didn't remove his hair tie. With his hair still tied up, Hoshi knelt towards the side and gave a wide smile. A wide smile that reminded Manta of Yoh.

Twins. Triplets. Twins. Triplets. Tri...

Manta banged his head on his book to clear the conflicting ideas from his head. Immediately, he glanced at Hoshi to see if Hoshi had noticed him because of the loud banging. He was following Hoshi right now and didn't want to be discovered. Hoshi was still staring at the water, so Manta was safe for the time being.

Manta was hidden behind the corner of the building. He constantly sneaked glances around the corner just to make sure that Hoshi was still standing there on the bridge. Hoshi had already been standing there for an hour, doing absolutely nothing. Manta was already getting tired from standing there and observing Hoshi.

Suddenly, Manta was hit with a sense of déjà vu...this scene was way too familiar.

Hadn't he done the exact same thing—follow Yoh-kun—when he first met Yoh-kun?

He remembered trailing the new student after school. He had wanted to prove the new student's real identity. Manta had claimed that there were spirits and that the spirits were connected with that laid-back boy. Nobody had believed him, so Manta had decided to follow Yoh-kun. Yoh-kun had just stood there, leaning his elbows against the railing for three hours! Yoh-kun had been humming some sort of tune, his head gazing up at the endless sky. He had seem so relaxed, so worriless. Manta had wondered how long the new student was going to stand there, because he was getting tired and impatient!

What was happening to Manta now was exactly the same as what had happened before. The spitting image of Yoh-kun was standing by the same railing and Manta was standing behind the same building, trying to be inconspicuous. No wait...it wasn't exactly the same.

This new student wasn't humming some tune and gazing up at the endless sky. He wasn't relaxed nor was he worriless.

Unlike when he had followed Yoh-kun, this new student was looking down, not up.

Hoshi didn't emit the same peace and calm that Yoh-kun had emitted, despite the somewhat warm smiles he gave.

The smiles were warm...but they didn't reach his eyes.

Manta, finally noticing the difference between this new student and Yoh-kun, sneaked another glance at the new student.

And noticed that the new student wasn't standing there anymore.

* * *

Hoshi noticed that it was Oyamada Manta who was peering at him around the corner. Why was that short boy so interested in him? When Hoshi felt that the short boy's eyes weren't focused on him entirely, Hoshi and his spirit left the bridge quietly.

He didn't want Manta to follow him around. The short boy seemed to know his past, and Hoshi wasn't ready for his past yet. He wanted his peaceful days to last a bit longer.

Still, he felt intrigued that Manta had called him "Yoh-kun."

Could it be...that "Yoh" was his name?

Hm...that was a new thought, since he always felt that he was more the type to have a name starting with an "H" than with a "Y".


	9. The Graveyard

_Hoshi was lost._

_He was standing in an open meadow out in nowhere. He thought he was in _ _Japan_ _, but he didn't remember seeing a meadow there before. The breeze silently played with his hair, teasingly twirling his long strands about his face. Hoshi reached up to brush the strands away from his face when a shadow fell by his feet._

_A solemn figure stood before him. He was tall with dark hair cropped slightly below his ears. His mouth was a thin line that curved downwards. His eyes were two steady pools of black. He was dressed in dark green pants and a black t-shirt. By his side stood a silent, tabby cat. The figure only faced Hoshi for a few seconds before turning away._

_Hoshi stared at the figure._

_"Who are you?"_

_The figure paused, his back still facing Hoshi._

_Hoshi repeated his question._

_"Who are you?'_

_The figure turned his head, his dark eyes glancing over Hoshi briefly._

_"I'm Hoshi."_

_Hoshi shook his head._

_"You are not Hoshi. I'm Hoshi."_

_The figure mockingly repeated Hoshi's words._

_"You are not Hoshi. I'm Hoshi."_

_Hoshi stared back at the figure._

_The figure glowered. _

_"Egotistical bastard. The world doesn't revolve around you. You can't just waltz in and take on my name! You can't take my place in their hearts."_

_Hoshi's eyes widened._

_"You're the boy in the photo."_

_The figure scowled._

_"Finally noticed, haven't you? Aren't you a bit dense?"_

_Without waiting for Hoshi's answer, the figure continued speaking._

_"Your name isn't Hoshi."_

_Then what was his name?_

_The figure glared at Hoshi._

_"Your name is..."_

_"MURDERER!"_

_Suddenly, the scene changed and Hoshi stood upon debris. He glanced around wildly, trying to find Tsuki's older brother. His eyes finally landed on the older brother...who wasn't standing anymore. He was covered in the debris, a pool of red seeping through underneath. Next to the body of the boy lay the body of an older man—Tsuki's father._

_Above the two bodies stood...himself... _

_He watched as his other self laughed maniacally, standing upon the debris with a blazing fire surrounding him._

_"Chichei na."_

When everything blacked out, he could still hear his own laugh echoing within his mind.

Hoshi woke up with a start, sweat dripping down his face. Panting heavily, Hoshi looked out the window. It was still dark.

Hoshisuke meowed, wondering what had disturbed his master. Hoshi shakily reached towards Hoshisuke, but retracted his hands before he touched the spirit.

Hoshisuke had been the other Hoshi's cat. It had been standing next to the Hoshi who had been questioning him. Hoshi shuddered. He probably was...the murderer of his own spirit. Hoshi remembered asking Hoshisuke how it had died. He shook his head...how hypocritical of him.

If he couldn't even look at Hoshisuke, how would he be able to face Sora and Tsuki? After all, his dream wasn't a normal nightmare.

Hoshi buried his face in his hands, a trickle of water running down his cheek. Gods...he hoped against all hope that the rest of his memory would never return. If this little piece of his memory was a taste of what was to come, he truly would rather not know at all. It was better to live in oblivious peace.

For now at least. Just for a little longer. That was all he wished for.

The contentment he felt with Sora and Tsuki...he didn't want to let that go yet.

But now...he realized that he was only taking the place of the deceased Hoshi. And ironically, he was the one who had killed him.

They would definitely hate him with a hate so great that a glare from them would send Hoshi straight to Hell. Not that he wasn't going to be condemned there in the first place.

Shakily, Hoshi got off his bed and left the room. He needed to go outside. The cool night air would be able to help him think more rationally.

His head felt as if millions of needles were pricking at it. He couldn't concentrate at all.

He wanted...no...he needed to look at the stars. They always had a calming effect on him. The wondrous little sparks of light in the sky twinkled nonstop every single night. Their stableness in the sky assured him of his existence.

Tokyo was full of buildings and crowded streets. There were few trees and even less open spaces where he could lay down and admire the stars. Because of this, Hoshi eventually wandered towards the only open space in his entire proximity.

The graveyard.

For many people, the graveyard brought fear. Normal people usually stayed away from graveyards because of their fear of ghosts and spirits. Others were afraid of being disrespectful towards the dead. In any case, few people visited the graveyard and even fewer people visited the graveyard after the sun set. After all, who knew what could happen in a graveyard when it was pitch black? At night, only the stars and the moon guided those strange people who chose to go to graveyards.

Well, Hoshi was one of those strange people. He'd scoff at whoever was afraid of spirits. Did Hoshisuke look intimidating? Not at all. Hoshisuke looked like any other cat...just a little more transparent.

Anyway, the graveyard was the perfect place to gaze at the stars. When Hoshi's eyes landed on the open land, free of buildings and the like, Hoshi's worries were immediately pushed to the back of his mind. He waltzed into the graveyard as if he owned it. Like an exuberant child who found joy in jumping on spring beds, Hoshi found excitement jumping over the tall grass of the graveyard. Hoshi plopped on top of the grass, facing upwards. He spread his arms out and closed his eyes.

The wind felt nice.

After a few seconds, Hoshi opened his eyes and gazed at the stars. They never ceased to fascinate him. They were his first memories, the first things he remembered seeing. He had woken up in darkness and the tiny dots of light were the only things that had been fighting against the darkness.

As Hoshi continued to gaze at the stars, there was a rustle behind him. Someone was approaching his spot. Someone else actually came to the graveyard at this ungodly hour.

"Stars are lights that guide and show us the way..."

Hoshi glanced up.

"Those who can't see the light will lose their path and die."

Looking at someone upside down was kind of hard. The boy standing behind him was wearing a small, sleeveless, red top and black, baggy pants. Those attributes weren't too eye-catching. When Hoshi saw the person's hair, however, he wondered if his eyes were working right. After all, hair that stood up in one perfect spike certainly defied all laws of gravity.

The other boy's golden eyes narrowed as Hoshi slowly sat up.

"You are..."

Hoshi's long hair slowly cascaded down his back.

"...not Yoh."

Hoshi glanced at the other boy, his own eyes narrowing as well. It was that name again.


	10. I am alive

Hoshi narrowed his eyes. It was that name again.

Yoh.

Manta had blurted out "Yoh-kun" in the classroom, yet he had not call Hoshi by that name a second time. This pointy-haired boy also mentioned "Yoh," but instead said that Hoshi wasn't Yoh.

After waking up from his nightmare, Hoshi knew that his name wasn't really Hoshi. He had called himself "Hoshi" simply because the stars were the first things he had seen when he had woken up. Hoshi laughed inwardly. If the first things he saw were ants, maybe he would have called himself "Ant."

Anyway, he felt that his name started with an "H," so he would never name himself after something as absurd and insignificant as "Ant." Calling himself "Hoshi" felt right. When Manta had called him "Yoh," Hoshi had felt that the name was familiar, yet he knew that the name wasn't his.

This boy at the graveyard confirmed that.

After standing up, Hoshi discovered that he was around the same height as the boy in front of him, so he was eye-level with the boy. The darkness caused the other boy's golden eyes to look even more golden. They flashed sharply, as if daring Hoshi to say something to their owner's statement of "You are not Yoh."

After a moment of silence, Hoshi smiled, as if to agree with the boy's previous statement, and watched as the other boy became apprehensive.

"What are you doing here?" asked the other boy in a slightly louder voice.

Hoshi continued smiling.

"Why, to look at the stars of course."

The boy opened his eyes wide, glaring at Hoshi. "Stop JOKING WITH ME! You...you!"

Hoshi was somewhat amused by the boy's reaction. After all, he was only telling the truth. What was wrong with that? Well, maybe it was the tone he spoke in and the words he chose to use that angered the boy. His tone and word choice were slightly...mocking.

"What about me?" asked Hoshi.

"You...you shouldn't even be alive!"

Hoshi stopped smiling. That was probably why Manta was so shocked in seeing him at cram school. Manta might have thought he was seeing a spirit. But no matter what Manta or this boy thought, Hoshi was clearly alive and healthy.

Hoshi grabbed the other boy's wrists.

"Well, I'm alive, aren't I?"

The boy glanced at Hoshi's hand, a solid and warm hand. There was no doubt that Hoshi was truly alive.

The boy closed his eyes, as if hoping that when he opened them, he would discover that this replica of Yoh was just an illusion and wasn't standing there in front of him. When he opened his eyes, however, Yoh's twin remained in the same spot.

"Let go of me."

Hoshi dropped the other boy's hands.

The boy stared at Hoshi in the eye. "You are supposed to be dead."

Hoshi sighed in mock frustration. "Didn't we just go over this subject? I'm clearly not dead."

"Then I, Tao Ren, will make sure that you are!"

Hoshi's eyes widened slightly. The other boy, Ren, whipped a broken-looking sword out of nowhere.

"Bason, Oversoul!"

A large, Chinese warrior appeared and began to merge with Ren's sword. Hm...so that was how an Oversoul was done. So far, Hoshi had not been practicing merging with Hoshisuke much, so he hadn't discovered all the different ways of merging yet. Seeing Ren's spirit merge with his sword, Hoshi now knew that for a higher level merging, all he needed was a medium.

Well, Ren used the hilt of a sword, a weapon that was appropriate for the Chinese warrior.

What would be an appropriate medium for Hoshisuke?

Hoshi wanted a medium that would surround him, a medium that could be found anywhere, anytime. He wanted a medium that was part of Nature, a medium that no one but himself would think of using.

Hoshi smiled.

As Ren charged at Hoshi, Hoshi begin his Oversoul.

"Hoshisuke, Oversoul!"

Hoshisuke meowed.

And merged with the air molecules around Hoshi.

Ren's eyes widened as his body stopped moving.

Hoshi stood in front of Ren with Hoshisuke's presence surrounding him, as if embracing him. His power coursed through the air around him, and he felt that if he wanted, he could easily crush this miniscule life form in front of him.

"What's wrong? Too scared to move?" Hoshi smirked, his arms crossed.

Meanwhile Bason apologized nonstop to his master.

"I'm so sorry, Bo-chama! So very sorry! I...I can't fight against cats!"

Hoshi laughed. Well, he was wrong about Hoshisuke not being threatening. Apparently, there were some people who were afraid of Hoshisuke. And the first one that Hoshi met wasn't even a normal human but a spirit.

Ren glared at Hoshi.

"Damn you!"

Hoshi rose his eyebrows. "I'm already damned."

"Then damn you again!"

Hoshi shook his head. "Not very original aren't you? Well, since you've ruined my peaceful stargazing, there's no point for me to stay here anymore. Bye."

Hoshi turned around and started walking away. Ren was obviously still stuck in the same place.

When Hoshi was at the very edge of the graveyard, Ren yelled as loudly as he could.

"GO TO HELL..."

"ASAKURA HAO!"

* * *

When Hoshi finally made it back to Sora's house, he trudged into his room and fell onto the soft mattress of his bed. He gazed up at the ceiling, wishing that it were the night sky instead. But the ceiling was just a ceiling, so the stars weren't visible at all.

Ren had called him "Asakura Hao."

His name was Asakura Hao.

Not Hoshi...but Hao.

Hoshi pronounced that name a few times, trying to hear how it sounded. When he pronounced "Asakura," he felt his tongue touch the ceiling of his mouth to form the "r." When he pronounced "Hao," he had to open his mouth and then narrow it.

It was his name...

It was definitely his name.


	11. Breakfast Confrontation

This morning, same as the past few days, Hoshi was staring off into space. As Sora served breakfast, she noticed that Hoshi had that faraway look again. The usually attentive boy paid no attention to anything. Every time he tried to pour himself some tea, he would forget about pouring the tea and the tea would, of course, overflow.

That wasn't the worse part of Hoshi's behavior.

The worst part was Hoshi's refusal to meet her eyes. Every time she glanced at him, he'd avert his eyes. She noticed that Hoshi refused to look Tsuki in the eye as well. Hoshi would talk to them with a smile, but he would always be looking elsewhere, like at the cup in his hands or at the fly on the wall.

That kind of behavior was extremely out of character for Hoshi. Sora could only conclude that something had happened to the boy on the day of cram school, since that was when this type of behavior had started.

Sora then remembered what the lady at the cram school had said. The lady had called Sora to tell her about Hoshi's words to her. Hoshi had told the lady that he didn't have a family name because he didn't have a family.

Sora glanced at Hoshi, who had his eyes cast down.

Hoshi never talked about his family. Actually, Hoshi never even talked about himself. For Sora and Tsuki, Hoshi had been such a welcome presence that they never questioned him about his past. Hoshi had needed their companionship, so they had given it willingly with no questions asked.

For Tsuki, Hoshi was like an older brother. Tsuki adored Hoshi and constantly pestered him with demands to play outside.

For herself, Hoshi was like a third son. She couldn't help but notice how small Hoshi looked, despite the strong appearance he usually presented to them. She knew, deep down, that Hoshi was still a boy. Seeing Hoshi immediately triggered her motherly affections.

Today, after seeing Hoshi so out of it for the past few days, Sora decided to tell Hoshi about her past. She hoped that Hoshi would accept her suggestion. She timidly ventured forward with her suggestion.

"Hoshi...would you like to take on my name?"

Hoshi finally glanced up at her, his eyes locking on with hers.

"...what?"

Sora smiled slightly, somewhat shyly. "Would you like to take on my name, my maiden name?"

Hoshi wrapped his hands around his tea cup.

"That's a sudden offer."

Sora's lips became a thin line. "It isn't a sudden offer. I have already thought of you as family. This only makes it official."

Hoshi kept glancing up at her and then at Tsuki. To take on Sora's family name...he would truly become one with the family...but he couldn't do that...not with what he found out a few nights before.

Sora shook her head. "This isn't something you need to think about. We ARE your family."

Hoshi remained silent while Tsuki fidgeted in his seat. Why didn't Hoshi-niichan just say "yes?" Tsuki wanted Hoshi-niichan to be his 'niichan for real. If his 'kaachan had asked him about it, he would have said "yes" immediately.

Hoshi glanced up again and whispered, "Thank you."

Immediately, two identical smiles appeared over Sora and Tsuki's faces as Tsuki rushed over to hug Hoshi.

"Yoroshiku, Hoshi-niichan!" exclaimed Tsuki.

"Yoroshiku, Hoshi." murmured Sora.

He was officially a part of the family now. He couldn't help but feel a warm, tingling sensation inside of him. He had a little brother who was willing to call him "older brother." He had a mother who cared about him. He was part of a perfect family, minus the father...and the deceased brother.

Hoshi closed his eyes. What was he thinking when he accepted Sora's offer? He couldn't stay with Sora and Tsuki much longer. Right now, he was living at the tip of the iceberg, just waiting to get submerged into the ice cold water.

"Um..." ventured Hoshi.

Sora replied, "Yes?"

"I've never asked for your maiden name...what is it anyway?"

Sora smiled grimly.

"It's Asakura."

* * *

Hoshi hugged his knees as he sat on top of his bed. It was such a bizarre coincidence. He had just found out that he was the killer of Tsuki's father and brother and that his name was Asakura Hao.

And now that Sora and Tsuki had accepted him into the family officially, Hoshi discovered that they were all Asakuras.

His old identity was Asakura Hao. His new identity was Asakura Hoshi. Despite his memory loss, he had somehow returned to the same family, to the Asakuras.

How small was the world anyway?

That meant that he didn't just kill Tsuki's father and brother, but he had killed his own uncle and cousin.

Why had he killed them? What was the reason for such an act?

Hoshi wandered back to his previous thought. They were all Asakuras. The world really was a small place. He remembered Sora's explanations after her proclamation of her maiden name.

"As you know, Hoshi, I married an American. We had known each other for quite some time before we married. He wanted to move back to America, so I moved with him. The reason for his desire to go back, however, wasn't because he missed America, but because my family couldn't accept me."

Sora paused and then continued. "I know this might be hard to believe, but the Asakura family is a family with a special ability."

She looked at Hoshi, who still had a blank expression.

"They are shamans."

Sora's story wasn't done yet. "I was born into such a prestigious family, yet I was such a failure. I couldn't even see spirits. I still can't."

Hoshi glanced at Hoshisuke.

"My family thought I was a failure as well. In essence, they kicked me out of the family. But I didn't want to admit defeat, so I've kept my maiden name till this day. My husband has always humored me. Tsuki, it seems, has inherited my lack of shamanic skill, but my older son had been able to see spirits."

Sora smiled sadly. "I've decided it's time to move back to Japan so that I can confront my family again. They didn't accept me in the past, but I want them to accept Tsuki. Tsuki deserves to be part of the family. It's his right."

Hoshi remained silent during Sora's monologue. If Sora and Tsuki were both Asakuras, how come they didn't know that his real name was Asakura Hao? Could it be that he was born to the family after Sora had left for America?

The world was a small place. It seemed that he was fated to return to the Asakuras.

Hoshi remained in his curled position as he pondered about all the possibilities.

Sora wanted to confront the main Asakura family again. That meant...he would probably be able to see the person that Manta and Ren had mistaken him for.

Asakura...

Yoh.


	12. Convenience Store

It was Hoshi's turn to go grocery shopping. This morning when he opened the refrigerator, he noticed that they were out of milk and eggs. Even though milk wasn't an essential part of his daily meal, eggs were. Since Sora did the grocery shopping last time with Tsuki, it was now his turn to go out. It was a good chance for him to take a look at some clothes and accessories for himself along the way. After all, he didn't want to be stuck wearing the deceased Hoshi's clothes for the rest of his life. Imagine, wearing the clothes of someone you murdered! Not a very inviting thought.

So on this bright, warm day, Hoshi left the house to go shopping.

Passing by a jewelry shop on his way to the convenience store, Hoshi drifted over to the windows. He placed his hands against the windows and peered at the delicate silver, star earrings.

Hoshi absently fingered his bare ears. Even now, he still felt uncomfortable without the usual weight of his heavy, round earrings.

* * *

He plucked at his guitar, listening to the sweet, resonating sound.

His name was Cutter. He loved playing the guitar. He also loved his guitar. Everyday, he would gently pick up his guitar and tune it to perfection. He even had a special, soft cloth that he used to polish the neck of his guitar. His guitar always shone brightly, thanks to its shiny coat of gloss that protected it from wear.

When he was in England, he formed a band with his motley gang of friends. He used to be the leader of their band. His subordinates called him "Meistersinger." Supposedly, it was a word of German origin. They had no idea what it meant. It just sounded cool.

They didn't have any money, nor did they have a manager, but they were still able to create a reputation (most likely a bad one) for themselves. They played their instruments in the streets and stirred up frenzy in the audience. Cutter always "charmed" the audience with his playing (or at least he thought he did).

After the shocking discovery that he was a shaman, Cutter decided to enter the Shaman Fight in Tokyo. However, he had no idea what the starting time of the Shaman Fight was, so when he finally arrived in Japan, the Shaman Fight had already ended.

It was too bad that he missed the Shaman Fight. There was no doubt that he would have been able to become the Shaman King. After all, he had absolute faith in his Furyouku.

Despite his supposed strength, he had no money left for the return flight. Cutter couldn't return to England. He had no choice but to work part-time jobs.

And that was why he was stuck in front of a junky cash register in a dinky little convenience store.

The tiny bells above the entrance jingled as a teenage boy pulled the door open. The boy was wearing green pants and a white, unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt. His hair was pulled back so that it stuck out in little spikes behind his head.

The boy wandered over to the CD racks and stood there for a few minutes, his eyes wandering over the different CDs. His eyes lit up as they landed on one particular CD. He reached out for the CD with his right hand and quickly walked to the cash register. With his left hand, he reached into the pockets of his pants to pull out some money.

Cutter's eyes glanced over the boy's orange headphones and then over the boy's face. The boy had the most relaxed expression Cutter ever saw in his life. He possessed the laziest smile ever and a pair of eyes that lit up with childish joy after the boy found his favorite CD.

The boy handed the CD to him. Cutter grudgingly took the CD and scanned it. Why was he working in this stupid little store again? Oh yeah, to earn money for his return flight. He also needed to train some more with his spirit.

Cutter glanced over the front of the CD. It was Bob's new CD. What bad taste in music. His guitar playing was much better than Bob's songs.

"2,000 yen please."

The boy counted the coins in his hand and then handed them over.

"Thank you for shopping here."

The boy smiled as he took Bob's new CD. He held it up in front of him admiringly and then slowly ripped open the plastic. He placed the CD in his CD player while walking towards the entrance of the store.

The tiny bells jingled as the boy pushed open the door and left.

* * *

Cutter stood in front of the cash register, watching the flies fly in circles around the store. It was a warm day. Even the flies wanted to stay out of the heat. Cutter had to keep fanning himself. He wanted the day to be over already so he could continue his training.

The tiny bells jingled.

Cutter watched as a teenage boy opened the door and entered. The boy was wearing green pants and a white, unbuttoned, short sleeved shirt. His hair was tied up and...wait, wasn't that the same boy from just a few minutes ago?

The store clerk watched as the boy went to the back of the store towards the frozen food. He returned to the front carrying a gallon of milk and a carton of eggs. He placed the items in front of the cash register.

Cutter scanned the items, somewhat confused. Why didn't the boy buy these items along with the CD? Weird boy...he could have saved both of them the trouble of doing everything twice. Cutter was about to tell the boy the price when he noticed something.

"Hey, where'd your headphones go?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Headphones? I've never had any headphones."

"But you came in with them a few minutes ago..."

Cutter paused. He took a closer look at the boy's pants. They weren't a solid green like the ones he had worn before. They were spotted, more like camouflaging pants. Cutter glanced up at the boy's hair. Although it was tied back, it was so much longer than before that it didn't stand up in spikes. Instead, the boy's hair drooped down in a graceful ponytail.

Cutter then glanced at the boy's expression. The boy wasn't smiling that lazy smile, nor did he have those eyes filled with childish joy. The boy in front of him had piercing eyes and a patronizing smile.

"I came in a few minutes ago?"

Cutter shook his head. "Never mind. It wasn't you. He was much more cheerful than you."

The boy's eyes widened slightly. He pulled out some money and placed it on the counter. He then snatched the items and ran towards the door.

Cutter grabbed the money, holding it up.

"Hey, don't you want your change?"

The boy didn't even look back at him.

The tiny bells jingled jarringly as the boy pushed open the door and rushed out.

Cutter winced, shaking his head. He then resumed thinking about his night training. With some training, he will definitely be able to become Shaman King.

Little did he know that he didn't even stand a chance in front of the two boys that had visited his store that day.


	13. Funbari Onsens

Hoshi had to push open the door of the convenience store with the side of his body because his hands were full. In his left hand, he held the plastic bag with the eggs. He had to be careful holding that bag, or else the eggs would all break. In his right hand, he held the plastic bag with the milk. That was weighing his hand down.

The tiny bells jingled. He felt a rush of warm air as he stepped out from the slightly cooler store into the bright outdoors.

The streets were empty.

Hoshi looked towards his left and saw a girl bicycling across the street. Hoshi served his head to the right. All he saw there was a tall stoplight.

He wasn't there.

That was to be expected. After all, Hoshi hadn't even seen him when he was walking into the store. Even though he had missed him by a few minutes, it was still a few minutes. He wasn't on this street anymore.

But still...imagine that. If he had only arrived at the store a few minutes earlier, he would have met him.

Only a few minutes earlier.

Hoshi shook his head and slowly trudged away from the convenience store.

* * *

He was relatively happy.

Dressed in his usual school uniform (despite the fact that he was currently on summer vacation) of green pants, a white, unbuttoned shirt, and a pair of sandals, the boy hummed as he approached his residence.

Why was he happy?

Well, he was always happy, or at least close to it. But today he was even happier because he was currently listening to his favorite artist's new single.

In his opinion, it was the best song ever. Of course, Bob always had great songs.

Nothing could spoil his good mood, thought the boy. He continued humming as he walked into the courtyard. In the past year, his friends had helped him and his fiancée in converting their humble residence into an inn known for its fabulous hot springs. The boy smiled somewhat contently as he slid open the entrance to the inn.

"I'm home!" He expected a warm "Welcome home!" Instead, his ears were blasted with frigid coldness that registered in his ears despite the loud Bob music that he was currently listening to.

"YOU ARE FINALLY BACK."

The boy sweatdropped as his frowning fiancée came into view.

"Yeah..." He answered tentatively.

She held out her right hand.

The boy looked out her outstretched palms curiously.

She huffed annoying. "Well? Where is it?"

The boy blinked. "Where is what?"

"My new Ringo CD."

The boy's eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you forgot."

Chirp. Chirp chirp.

The chirping of the birds was really noticeable in the strained silence. The boy didn't answer since she told him not to.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for? GET IT FOR ME NOW!"

He obeyed without a second's hesitation, bolting out of the door immediately.

She sighed as she headed back to the counter. The customer was staring at the girl with wide eyes. The girl, however, didn't seem to notice the customer's concern, or chose to ignore it. Contrary to her previous attitude, she smiled sweetly at the person in front of her.

"Yes, how may I help you? Our inn offers the best rooms and..."

Her voice trailed off as she discarded her icy attitude to adopt a professional attitude instead. She explained nonstop the benefits of Funbari Onsens.

* * *

Cutter's eyes followed the movement of the flies in the shop. He watched as the flies darted left and right. What a long and boring day. Why was he stuck in this dinky little convenience store stashed in between two abandoned stores? He was bored because few customers frequented the store. So far, only two boys had come to the store.

He continued fanning himself as the tiny bells above the door jingled.

He glanced up and watched as a boy wearing green pants and a white, unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt entered the store. His hair was...wait...wasn't that the same boy that had rushed out of the store?

Cutter's head swam with the images of the two boys who had visited his store that day. Now, this boy could be either one of the previous two boys, or this boy could be an entirely different boy...which would mean...

Triplets??

Or maybe they were all the same boy. What would that be called? An onelet.

Was there even such a word? There was such a word as omelet...Eggs with filling...

Cutter shook his head and watched the boy hurriedly rush towards the CD racks and pulled a CD from it. Well, this boy certainly looked the same as the two boys from before. The only thing different about him was his hair...it wasn't tied up, probably because it had come untied in the boy's rush to get to the store. Cutter noticed that the boy's hair was shoulder length.

He scrutinized the boy's attire. His green pants were a solid green, so he certainly wasn't the second boy who had been wearing spotted green pants. Then Cutter's eyes drifted towards the orange headphones.

Okay, unless orange headphones were the current fad, thought Cutter, that boy was the same boy as the first boy.

Cutter watched the boy approach his counter. Unlike before, however, the boy lacked his laidback expression. He was clearly in a hurry. He was jumping from one foot to the other, as if not wanting to stand still.

While Cutter scanned the CD, he couldn't help but ask the boy a question.

"Why didn't you buy this CD with the last one?"

The boy smiled guiltily. "I forgot."

Cutter nodded. That seemed reasonable enough.

"But why didn't you come with your brother? Or ask him to buy this CD for you?"

The boy stopped fidgeting. His hands reached for his headphones, pushing them back from his ears. Had he heard the cashier right? His Bob music had been loud. Although his headphones weren't on his ears right now, he could still hear the music slightly.

"What did you say?" asked the boy.

"Why didn't you buy this CD?" repeated Cutter questionably.

"No, after that."

"Why didn't you come with your brother?"

The boy stared incredulously at Cutter. His fingers found the stop button on his CD player, effectively cutting off Bob's singing.

"How do you know that I have a brother?"

"He came to the store a few minutes after you left the first time."

The boy's eyes widened. Resembling the second boy's actions, he turned and ran towards the door.

The tiny bells jingled at the same time Cutter held up the CD.

"Hey, don't you want to buy this CD?"

Unlike the second boy who hadn't looked back, this boy turned around abruptly, letting the door close behind him. He then headed back to the counter. Cutter wondered if the two boys were playing some sort of hide-and-seek game.

The boy grinned sheepishly and handed Cutter the money.

"Yeah...I want to buy it. If I don't, Anna's gonna kill me."


	14. Exam Results

Hoshi stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom with his head turned to the side to check whether or not his pony tail was straight. Smoothing his shirt and pants, Hoshi gave himself one last look before finally deciding he was satisfied with his reflection. With that, Hoshi left the house.

"I'm off now!"

Sora came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Have a safe trip."

Hoshi nodded and waved goodbye.

Meanwhile, Tsuki wondered why he couldn't go out with Hoshi-niichan. Hoshi-niichan went to cram school by himself. Hoshi-niichan helped them buy groceries by himself. When Tsuki went to buy groceries, he had to buy them with his 'kaachan. Why couldn't he go by himself? Tsuki sulked as he watched the door close behind Hoshi-niichan.

When his 'kaachan went back into the kitchen, Tsuki gave a furtive glance between the kitchen and the door. Assured that his 'kaachan couldn't see him, Tsuki inched towards the door, slowly opening it and tiptoeing out the door.

Well, he wasn't going to stay home when Hoshi-niichan went out and had all the fun!

* * *

Hoshi yawned. It was evening right now. He should still be wide awake, but just the thought of school could make anyone sleepy. Hoshi stretched as he waited for the light to turn green.

When the light finally changed, Hoshi started walking across the street.

A flash of blue walked past him at the middle of the street. The blue somewhat registered in Hoshi's mind, but it was of no importance to him. Hoshi continued walking without a pause.

The flash of blue, however, noticed Hoshi and turned around.

"Yoh!"

The shout was lost among the noise of the traffic. Hoshi barely heard it as he reached the other side of the street, since "Yoh" could have been a regular greeting between two friends.

The flash of blue, more commonly known as Horo Horo, watched glumly as the figure disappeared amidst the crowd. He had only seen a glance of the figure, but he had thought it was Yoh. But then why hadn't Yoh turned around? Horo Horo shrugged. He most likely mistook someone else for him.

A large honk woke Horo Horo from his thoughts. Horo Horo blinked, finally noticing that the light had already turned red. He was still standing in the middle of the streets.

The cars kept honking as Horo Horo rubbed the back of his head.

"EH?? SORRY! SORRY!"

He quickly dashed to the other side of the sidewalk, heaving a sigh of relief when the annoying honking finally stopped.

* * *

When Hoshi entered the classroom, he immediately heard dreamy sighs.

"He's back..." whispered one girl.

"I almost thought he wouldn't come back..." whispered the next girl.

"But he's back!" squealed the first girl. The two girls clasped each other's hands as the boys around them rolled their eyes.

Hoshi ignored the whispers from the girls, the exasperated looks from the boys, as well as the pointed stare from Manta. The short boy had his eyes glued on him the moment he stepped into the room.

Ichi-sensei looked up from his position in the front of the room. He straightened his current work and put them away. He took out a fat stack of papers and put them on the desk in front of him.

"Well, those are your exam results."

The teacher just had to put his exams in the front of the classroom for EVERYONE to see. Hoshi shook his head slightly. Oh well. There was nothing he was ashamed of.

Hoshi walked over and picked up the exams, quickly sifting through them and glancing at his score. He smirked, and if possible, the smirk became wider as he saw each test score.

Ichi-sensei sighed. Here, standing in front of him, was a child genius who had appeared out of nowhere. Okay, maybe not nowhere, but from America. Here, standing in front of him was a child genius who had appeared from America. Ichi-sensei knew that he should expect great things from the boy...whatever "great" meant.

The teacher cleared his voice.

"I don't have much to say...but congratulations on acing all of the tests."

The girls gave a unison sigh while the boys' jaws dropped. Manta's eyes, especially, were wide open.

Manta thought that Hoshi would sort of be like Yoh and Yoh, as a student, rarely listened to any lectures. He spent the time sleeping, dozing, drifting off, daydreaming...the list went on. Whatever he did, he certainly did not listen to the teachers' lectures. Manta was absolutely sure that Yoh didn't learn much in school. The only thing Yoh learned during school hours were probably the lyrics to the songs he listened to, since Yoh always had his headphones on.

So when Hoshi appeared in front of Manta, Manta immediately compared him with Yoh, the extremely lazy student. He thought that Hoshi would be like Yoh. He thought that Hoshi would most likely fall under the category of "lazy student," no matter the reason.

Well, if Hoshi were a lazy student and never listened in class, he would be nothing short of a genius. Even if he were a studious student, he could never have learned all the material that was on those exams. It wasn't possible to learn all that in school, unless Hoshi had already attended college and beyond. So where did Hoshi get all that knowledge?

Then it all clicked.

If Hoshi were Hao, which Manta now believed was the highest possibility, then Hoshi would have had 1000 years to absorb all the knowledge in the world. One could accomplish and learn so much in 1000 years. If Manta had 1000 years, he could learn every language in the world, study every single culture, and learn everything that could be learned about the world.

It all made sense.

And now Manta was absolutely sure that Hoshi must be Hao, for no one else could be able to have that much knowledge.

Ichi-sensei continued talking after the brief interruption from the class.

"Well, I don't know where to place you because based on your test results, your skill is beyond any college student." He paused and continued. "Basically, you don't even have to attend any school at all. Of course, you can attend college if you want to get a degree."

Hoshi raised his eyebrow. Interesting...he didn't have to go to school if he didn't want to.

Manta's arm shot up, but he began talking without the teacher's permission. "Sensei! I believe that Hoshi should go to middle school."

The teacher turned towards Manta, a look of pure exasperation. "Why would a genius want to attend middle school? If he wanted, he could attend the most elite graduate school in the whole world! Imagine that! And you want him to go to middle school?"

Manta shook his head. "It's not what I want. It's what I believe will be best for him."

"How do you know what is best for him?"

Manta continued. "Well, he's the same age as me. I think that if he goes straight to graduate school, he wouldn't be able to experience a..." Manta paused at the word.

"A childhood."

Silence.

One of the girls giggled. "You're so silly."

Another boy echoed the girl's thoughts, despite his envy of Hoshi's intellect.

"He doesn't need a childhood when he's so smart!"

Manta shook his head venomously. "You're all wrong! Everyone deserves this chance!"

Words flew between the short boy and the rest of the class. He was a tiny little existence fighting against the main current, a tiny individual against the whole world. No one backed him up. Manta tried to fight against the other students' opinions, along with the dominating opinion of the teacher. It was a losing battle, until the very person in the center of the dispute cut into the verbal fight.

"I'll take Manta's suggestion."

The girls looked up in horror, the boys in bewilderment, the teacher in confusion, and Manta in gratitude.

All Hoshi did was smile at their reactions.


	15. Lost

Hoshi's smile was contagious. Once Hoshi smiled that semi-mocking smile, Manta couldn't help but smile in return. When Manta looked up in gratitude, a smile had involuntarily spread over his own face.

The girls pouted for a bit, wondering why Hoshi was going to waste his time going to middle school. He was so smart! They kept on complaining until one girl suddenly exclaimed...

"But doesn't that mean he might be in the same school as us?"

The girls perked up at this and immediately grouped together to chat about this new development.

The teacher kept shaking his head, thinking "such a waste," but he was ultimately glad that Hoshi chose to go to middle school. Ichi-sensei disliked "geniuses." He was glad that Hoshi was going to middle school because...seriously, those geniuses needed to be more humble. No matter how smart Hoshi was, Hoshi was only a teenage boy. And young boys needed to know their place. Ichi-sensei was also glad that he didn't teach middle school because he certainly didn't want to be Hoshi's teacher. He hated having students who were a thousand times smarter than him.

He shuddered.

When the day ended, the students filed out of the classroom. Many of the girls threw a few last glances at Hoshi as they left the room. The boys sort of ignored him and Manta.

Only the teacher, Hoshi, and Manta were left in the classroom. Manta slowly packed his things, ready to go home. When Manta reached down to grab his bag, he wondered if he should try to follow Hoshi again...

A pair of boots came into his view. Manta glanced up to see Yoh...no...a slightly smiling Hoshi standing in front of him.

Hoshi extended his right hand.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we?"

Manta was confused. Why would they want to introduce themselves? Didn't they already know each other? But thinking about the first time he met Hao, Manta remembered that he certainly didn't introduce himself to Hao, at least not properly. He had been too busy being shocked by Hao's appearance.

Nevertheless, Manta shook his head.

Although Manta knew that Hoshi already knew who he was, Manta ventured forth with his self-introduction. "I'm Oyamada Manta."

Hoshi nodded. "Well, Manta-kun, nice to meet you."

Hoshi took Manta's hand to shake it as Hoshi continued on with his self-introduction.

The other boy smiled slightly and said, "You can call me Asakura Hoshi."

Manta had been shaking Hoshi's hand warily. He immediately dropped Hoshi's hand after hearing those words.

"What?" exclaimed Manta.

Exactly what did Hoshi mean by calling himself "Asakura Hoshi?" Was Hoshi actually a different person from Hao and Yoh? Or else he wouldn't have called himself an Asakura! Manta's mind became muddled again. He thought for sure that the boy standing in front of him was Asakura Hao. But the boy's words once again confused Manta.

* * *

He stood in front of the stoplights, his eyes darting between the green light and the crowd of people who were crossing the street. He was the only one that wasn't in motion. He stood rooted to the ground as the crowd parted around him and then joined together on the other side. He stood at one end of the street, as if he couldn't decide whether or not to cross the street. The lights blinked. He bit his lips and took one step forward. The green light turned red before he even set foot into the streets.

He backed up once again, looking around frantically. The crowd from his side of the street had already crossed the street. The crowd from the other side of the street continued past him without stopping. Now he was the only one standing on this side of the street. He stood next to the pole, waiting for the light to turn green again.

He was utterly lost.

When Hoshi-niichan left to go to cram school, Tsuki had been jealous that the older boy got to have all the fun. At that time, Tsuki had believed that following Hoshi-niichan was the best idea ever. He slipped out of the house without catching his kaa-chan's attention. But from the very start, he never saw Hoshi-niichan's retreating back even once. Tsuki hadn't given up but continued to walk in the direction he thought Hoshi-niichan went.

At first his strides were confident and bold. He passed by numerous houses, apartments, and stores. He passed through several streets, patiently waiting for the light to turn green before he crossed over. He continued wandering and remained confident.

...until the sun started setting.

His heart began pounding more quickly and he started looking around with wide eyes.

He had no idea where he was.

Tsuki's steps slowed down. They were no longer confident and bold...rather they were faltering and timid. Eventually, his steps came to a stop.

That was how Tsuki ended up in front of the crossroads, unsure of what to do next. The crowd around him moved on without a care, leaving Tsuki alone in his demise.

A tiny crowd gathered around him to wait for the light. Once the light turned green, this new crowd crossed the street, leaving him alone once again. The light then turned red again. The little boy remained in the same spot. A crowd gathered around him to wait for the next light. The light turned green, the crowd crossed over, and the light turned red. He was then left alone again.

It was a never-ending cycle, and not one person in the massive crowd stopped to help the lost boy.

Tsuki tried to sniffle back his tears. He rubbed his right eye. He was a naughty little boy...and shouldn't have tried to follow Hoshi-niichan. Now he was lost and it was all his own fault. He felt like curling up into a little ball, but if he did that, he would certainly get trampled over by the crowd.

The light turned green and the crowd once again began crossing the street. Tsuki was ready to give up...until he saw Hoshi-niichan walking in the middle of the street! Through his blurry eyes, Tsuki saw a glimpse of an older boy wearing a white shirt and green pants.

Tsuki commanded his frozen legs to move. Slowly, he took a few steps forward. Confident that he'd be able to move now, Tsuki began dashing through the street and yelling "Hoshi-niichan!"

The weird thing was...Hoshi-niichan never turned around to look at him. Tsuki kept calling his name but Hoshi-niichan never turned around. Why was that? Maybe his yells weren't loud enough to be heard over the noise in the street.

Tsuki kept running and pushing through the crowd. He darted between masses of bodies. He saw the glimpse of green slowly making progress through the crowd. Tsuki reached out to his niichan...and managed to grab the back of his shirt.

"Hoshi-niichan!"

As the older boy turned around with a surprised expression on his face, Tsuki noticed that this boy had much shorter hair than Hoshi-niichan. For a wild moment, Tsuki was alarmed that Hoshi-niichan had cut his hair. But then Tsuki noticed that the older boy had slightly lighter skin too.

Tsuki looked up at the older boy, his lips wobbling.

"You aren't Hoshi-niichan."

The older boy shook his head slowly, agreeing with the little boy's words. The lights blinked, signaling the changing of the light. The crowd had already crossed to the other side of the street, leaving the two young boys standing in the middle of the street. The cars began honking. The older boy glanced around, took the little boy's hands, and ran to the other side of the street. The cars then drove by peacefully.

Safely on the sidewalk, the older boy turned Tsuki's shoulders so that the little boy was facing him squarely. The older boy knelt down to look Tsuki in the eye.

"Tell me..."

Tsuki glanced at the confusing stranger who looked almost exactly like his Hoshi-niichan.

"Who is this 'Hoshi-niichan'?"


	16. Introductions

Ichi-sensei glanced up when Oyamada exclaimed in a thunderous voice for such a small body…

"**What??**"

The new student, who Ichi-sensei now knew was called Asakura (before, he had only known the new student's first name), gave a slightly confused look as he began walking towards the door. "I said that you can call me Asakura Hoshi."

Oyamada trailed behind Asakura and tried to shake and nod his head at the same time. "Exactly! That was what I was wondering about. What do you mean by "Asakura Hoshi?"

When the new student walked through the door, his voice became muffled. Ichi-sensei could barely hear his voice, but it sounded like, "That's what I meant. My name is Asakura Hoshi."

Oyamada followed Asakura out the door. Ichi-sensei could hear Oyamada's muffled voice outside as well, but he couldn't tell what he was saying.

After a moment, there was silence.

The two boys probably walked down the hallway and were too far for him to hear anymore. Ichi-sensei basked in the silence. Little kids were annoying and thought they owned the entire world. Especially Asakura Hoshi. That boy was definitely too full of himself and thought that everyone should be awed by his looks and intelligence. Well, Ichi-sensei was proud that at least he wasn't part of that everyone! For him, Asakura Hoshi had been no more than a horrible distraction for his class.

Ichi-sensei shook his head. His class had been attentive and studious before that Asakura came. The moment Asakura Hoshi stepped foot into his classroom with his overly long, tied up hair, Ichi-sensei knew that the new student spelled trouble. Kids these days were paying too much attention to the opposite sex. The girls immediately began swooning over the new student and the boys had become jealous. The new student had to add on to the trouble by acing all of his tests! The girls became even more impressed and the boys even more jealous. And no one paid any attention to his lectures anymore. Not even his most studious student, Oyamada Manta! Even the short boy who cared so much about doing well in school stopped paying attention in his class.

Ichi-sensei fumed but consoled himself with the fact that vacation was about to end and school would be starting soon. Asakura Hoshi probably wouldn't be attending his class anymore, since he had no need for cram school with the knowledge that he possessed. Thank goodness!

He hoped that his class would soon become normal again.

* * *

"Tell me, who is this 'Hoshi-niichan'?" asked the boy who looked just like Hoshi-niichan. Tsuki looked up rebelliously and instead of answering the older boy's question, he asked one of his own.

"Tell me who you are first!"

The older boy blinked and couldn't resist those fierce, teary eyes of the younger boy. "Uh…okay."

Tsuki blinked as well, since he didn't expect the older boy to agree with what he demanded. This older boy was definitely not Hoshi-niichan, thought Tsuki. He was way too gullible. Tsuki glanced up at the older boy and carefully studied his features. So that was how Hoshi-niichan would look like with shorter hair and a lazier expression! Tsuki couldn't decide whether he liked Hoshi-niichan with short or long hair. He liked teasing Hoshi-niichan about his long hair because Hoshi-niichan really liked his hair. But despite all the teasing, Tsuki secretly admired Hoshi-niichan's hair. It suited him.

The older boy smiled encouragingly. "Let's introduce ourselves then. I'm Yoh."

Tsuki rubbed his eyes and murmured, "I'm Asakura Tsuki."

Like his time at the convenience store, Yoh wondered if he heard right. After all, his surname wasn't a common one. "Asakura Tsuki?"

Tsuki nodded.

Yoh smiled. "What a coincidence! I'm an Asakura as well! Who knows…maybe we're cousins or something!"

The older boy continued smiling. "Well, will you tell me about your Hoshi-niichan now?"

* * *

The sun had already set when Manta followed Hoshi out of the building. Only the moonlight illuminated the two boys.

"But…that's not your real name, is it?" asked Manta.

Hoshi didn't answer Manta's question immediately. He continued walking while Manta continued following him. They kept walking until they came to the bridge where Hoshi had been staring at the water below a few days ago.

Hoshi gripped the railing with his hands and peered down at the dark water. Hoshisuke appeared next to his own wavering reflection.

"Tell me, Manta-kun, what do you see in the water below?"

Confused, Manta clung to the railing and glanced down at the water.

"I don't see much…just my reflection next to yours."

Hoshi kept his head down, his eyes focused on the water. "Anything else?"

Manta glanced back at the water, wondering why Hoshi was asking him this. Was he simply changing the topic to avoid answering Manta's question? Manta glanced at the water more closely, this time noticing the wavering reflection of a cat next to Hoshi.

"I see the reflection of a cat next to you."

Hoshi's eyes widened as his head snapped up. "You can see him? Really?"

Manta nodded slowly. "Of course I can, why wouldn't I be able to see him?"

Hoshi turned towards his spirit, Hoshisuke. "Hoshisuke, he can see you! I'm not the only one who can see you." Hoshi felt both elated and slightly annoyed at the same time. He was happy that he wasn't alone in his ability to see spirits, but he was also overly possessive of that abnormal skill. His ability to see Hoshisuke had made him feel unique. It had been something that set him apart from the norm. But the boy at the graveyard, Tao Ren, had been able to see and merge with spirits. And now…standing before him was another boy who could see spirits as well. It was like a smack in his face which said "You aren't unique."

* * *

The crowd around Yoh and Tsuki slowly diminished. As the darkness enveloped the streets, less people roamed about. Tsuki shivered as a cold breeze blew past them.

Tsuki glanced up at Yoh with confused eyes. "You look a lot like Hoshi-niichan. Why is that?"

Yoh shrugged. "I don't know. However, I do have a twin, but his name is..."

"Maybe you're Hoshi-niichan's evil twin then!" blurted Tsuki as the thought struck him.

Yoh sweat dropped. Why was he the evil twin? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Despite not being alone anymore, Tsuki glanced around nervously. When he saw Yoh, he had thought that he had found Hoshi-niichan. Then he wouldn't have been lost anymore, since Hoshi-niichan would certainly take him home safely. But the older boy in front of him wasn't his Hoshi-niichan, only someone who looked almost exactly like him. So now, Tsuki was still lost. Tsuki sniffled and pulled Yoh's shirt.

"I'm lost."

Yoh grabbed Tsuki's hands. "Where are your parents? Or your Hoshi-niichan?"

Tsuki shook his head and looked down. "I snuck out of the house, so 'kaachan doesn't know where I am. I tried to follow Hoshi-niichan, but I never found him."

"I see…do you know your address? Or your phone number?"

Tsuki shook his head again and shivered.

Yoh tugged on Tsuki's hand. "Well, let's head to my house for now. It's cold out here. Anna should know what to do."

* * *

Manta. Was. Confused. Why was the boy in front of him so surprised that he could see the cat?

Hoshi turned towards Manta again. "You're the second person I met who can see my spirit."

Oh…spirit huh? That made more sense…wait, that didn't make any sense at all either! Manta knew that Hao knew that Manta could see spirits. So what was with Hoshi's reaction right now? Manta was getting more and more confused with each of Hoshi's actions.

"But don't you already know that I can see spirits?"

Hoshi slowly shook his head. "How would I know if I've just met you a few days ago in class?"

Manta's jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me. That was so not our first encounter!"

Hoshi glanced at Manta's surprised expression, all the while shaking his head. "I've never met you before that."

Manta finally decided to ask the question that had been bugging him for the longest time. "Just tell me, are you, or are you not, Asakura Hao? Are you Yoh's twin, or are you some bizarre triplet of those two??" Manta had been almost 100 percent sure that the boy in front of him was Asakura Hao, but the boy's actions had confused him and made him unsure.

Hoshi raised his eyebrow. "That's what I wanted to ask you."

"What do you mean?"

Hoshi turned back towards the railing and lifted his head to gaze at the night sky. His eyes caught the twinkling stars as a sad smile spread over his face. He reached out his right hand, as if wanting to grasp the stars within his hand. The moonlight splayed over him, giving him an ethereal glow.

"I wanted to ask you my identity…"

Hoshi glanced at Manta.

"…because I don't remember."


	17. On the Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **translations**  
> nantoka naru – Yoh's famous line...everything will be fine if you let them run their course. I'm not sure how this is worded officially in the English version.

Yoh led Tsuki towards his cozy residence turned inn. The two dark silhouettes simultaneously moved towards the building beneath the night sky. Yoh kept sneaking glances at Tsuki along the way because the younger boy was full of surprises.

The boy next to him was called Asakura Tsuki. That itself was surprising because Yoh didn't know any other Asakuras other than his grandparents, his parents, and his long deceased ancestor who defeated Hao 500 years ago. And Hao was, of course, an Asakura. So counting himself, Yoh knew seven Asakuras. That wasn't a very big number considering how many people there were in the world. Yoh had to wonder where all his other relatives went.

Yoh felt that the younger boy whom he was leading towards the inn right now had an extremely high possibility of being a relative of his. Yoh warmed up at that thought. Ever since he defeated Hao, Yoh had this weird, twisted feeling inside. He didn't know what that foreign feeling was because he had never felt that way before. It wasn't like the empty feeling that he felt before he met Hao. Yoh always had that empty feeling inside of him—he just didn't notice it until Hao appeared. After all, he and Hao were twins. More precisely, Yoh was a part of Hao. Hao's appearance reminded Yoh that he wasn't complete.

The twisted feeling he felt now...that was different from the empty feeling from before. Meeting Tsuki, however, calmed his twisted feeling.

Yoh didn't know if it was because he was glad that there were other Asakuras in the world, the idea that he might have relatives that he didn't know about. Yoh was far from alone since he was always surrounded by his loyal friends, his trustworthy spirit, and his demanding fiancée, but he thought it'd feel nice to have more familial ties, more people who shared the same blood as him.

Another asset about meeting Tsuki was Tsuki's mention of a "Hoshi-niichan." Tsuki had mistaken him for Hoshi...meaning that he and Hoshi looked a lot like each other. Yoh's heart began pounding faster. It either meant that Tsuki was most likely his relative, since his older brother looked so much like him, or it meant that "Hoshi-niichan" was somehow Yoh's own older brother.

Hao.

Yoh shook his head at that thought. Hao wasn't dead...that much he could tell because he didn't feel empty inside. But to think that Hao might have found his way back to an Asakura family was somewhat bizarre. Besides, if Tsuki really were part of Yoh's family, Tsuki would most likely not accept Hao. No one in the present Asakura family accepted Hao. They had all sworn to seal Hao away.

When Yoh finally saw Funbari Onsens in the distance, he smiled at the warm lights peeking out from the inn's windows. Tsuki tugged on Yoh's shirt.

"Yoh-san."

Yoh glanced at Tsuki. "Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

Yoh smiled and faced towards Funbari Onsens. "Don't worry. Your kaachan will be able to find you."

"Really?"

Yoh nodded. "Everything will be fine. Nantoka naru."

* * *

Manta was stunned into silence. The boy in front of him didn't remember who he was. And now he was asking Manta to tell him. Manta wasn't sure if Hoshi's words about "not remembering" could be trusted.

Meanwhile, Hoshi was calmly staring back at Manta. Manta blinked and decided to clear up his own confusion.

"What do you mean by not remembering?" asked Manta doubtfully.

Hoshi shrugged. "I guess I have to explain it to you since I'm asking you for help."

Manta nodded in agreement.

Hoshi continued. "Well, I don't remember anything. I woke up under the night sky...and my mind was blank. I didn't remember where I came from, why I was where I was, how I got there, what I was doing there, and most importantly, I didn't remember who I was."

Manta's eyes grew wider with each of Hoshi's words. "Then how did you come by with the name 'Asakura Hoshi'?"

Hoshi glanced up at the tiny lights in the night sky. "The stars were the first things I saw when I woke up. I felt a sort of affinity with them...so I told the family that found me that my name was Hoshi."

"The family that found you?"

Hoshi nodded. "I took on their name."

Manta blinked. "Wait...that means that the family that found you is the Asakura family? Yoh's family?"

"Yes...the very same...I was shocked when I found out their name...I almost couldn't believe it." Hoshi turned back towards the water.

Manta pressed on with his questions. "Why were you shocked? I thought you didn't remember anything."

Hoshi shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't remember anything, but I met a boy at the graveyard who called me Asakura Hao. Anyway, enough with the questions."

"But I'm not done yet!" sputtered Manta.

Hoshi looked up exasperatedly. "I feel like I'm a suspect under interrogation. One more question then."

"Who did you meet at the graveyard?"

"A boy who called himself Tao Ren," answered Hoshi.

"You mean you've met Ren already?" Manta didn't even know that Ren was in Tokyo. When had he come anyway? The last time Manta heard of Ren, Ren was still in China.

Hoshi glanced back at Manta. "I thought I said only one more question."

Manta dropped silent, but his curiosity still wasn't satisfied. He had several more questions that he wanted to ask. Right now, all he got out of Hoshi was that Hoshi didn't remember who he was, that the family that had found Hoshi was the Asakura family, and that Hoshi had met Ren in the graveyard. Only the bare facts.

Hoshi was giving Manta a determined stare. "So are you going to answer my question after you asked me so many?"

"About your identity?"

Hoshi rolled his eyes. "What else?"

Manta gulped. "Well, I think you are Asakura Hao."

"You think?"

Manta nodded. "I'm not sure because you don't act like the Hao in my memory. And you're not wearing your old clothes."

"My old clothes...I can show you them. Will you be sure about my identity after that?"

Manta nodded again.

"Okay then...why don't you come to my house?" asked Hoshi.

Manta's eyes widened. "You mean you live in a HOUSE?" Manta always thought that Hao slept somewhere outside, like in the graveyard, or in the park, or SOMEWHERE outside other than in a house. But then, since a family found Hoshi, it made sense that Hoshi lived in a house.

Hoshi sweatdropped. "Of course...where else would I live?"


	18. Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **translations**  
> koropokkuru – the little people who live under those big leaves. Horo Horo's spirit is a koropokkuru.

Sora stared unseeingly at the closed door. She had looked everywhere...in the bedrooms, the guest room, the family room, the bathrooms, the closets...under the beds, the tables, the bookshelf...outside the windows...beyond the front door...everywhere she could think of.

Tsuki was nowhere to be found.

Sora had been in the kitchen, preparing the food she was going to cook for dinner that night as Hoshi left to go to cram school. When she was done, she had walked out of the kitchen only to find that she was home alone.

She twiddled her fingers nervously. It had already been a few hours since she discovered that Tsuki had disappeared. She had called the police, who told her that they couldn't do anything until her son was considered "missing" after 24 hours. Sora had slammed the receiver down when she heard that. It had been out of character for her to lose her calm, but the disappearance of her son destroyed all the self-restraint she had. However, right after she slammed the phone down, she picked it back up and called the police back to ask them if anyone had brought Tsuki to the police station.

Sora found no luck with that either, and now she couldn't sit still anymore.

She had to go out to find her son, the only person she had left after the death of her husband and her older son. Her parents didn't accept her. The entire Asakura family was disappointed in her. Tsuki was the only one who accepted her…

An image of Hoshi eating contently at the breakfast table flashed in her mind.

Sora calmed slightly at the thought of Hoshi. She wasn't alone. She still had Hoshi. She kept gazing at the door, this time actually seeing the door. A year ago when she had found Hoshi, he was silent and didn't talk much. But now, Hoshi seemed to have opened up to her and Tsuki much more. He was always calm and self-assured. Sora decided to wait for Hoshi to return from cram school before rushing out blindly to search for Tsuki.

She waited for what seemed like eternity. Finally, the door slowly opened, revealing her adopted son Hoshi who exclaimed, "I'm home!"

Sora quickly murmured, "Welcome home." She saw that a short boy carrying a huge book was standing behind Hoshi, but Sora didn't have time to greet him.

* * *

"I'm home!" declared the boy clad in a pair of green pants and a white, unbuttoned shirt. His claw necklace rested in front of his chest. He pushed his orange headphones back a bit as he entered the inn.

"You're late, once again," was the icy reply that the boy got in return for his warm announcement that he was home. It was far from the warm "welcome home" that he was yearning for.

The boy winced slightly. "Sorry, Anna. I had a little detour along the way."

Anna had her back to Yoh, so Yoh couldn't see the exasperated expression on her face and Anna didn't see the little boy behind Yoh. Anna began turning around as she said, "I don't care about your detour! You weren't home to make din…!"

Anna stopped in the middle of her sentence. The cause? Her eyes came upon the little boy who was hiding behind Yoh. Yoh also had an extremely sheepish and apologetic look on his face.

Anna blinked and pointed at the boy huddling behind Yoh. "What. Is. That?"

"Uh…a boy?" answered Yoh.

"I know that he's a boy! I'm asking you who is he? Why is he here?" Anna stared down at Tsuki unblinkingly. That boy…Anna couldn't help but notice that the boy looked a lot like Yoh. It couldn't be that the little boy was…Yoh's child? Anna shook her head. She shouldn't let her imagination run like that. Yoh wasn't old enough to have a child the age of that boy.

Tsuki cowered under Anna's scrutinizing stare. He tugged on Yoh's shirt and pointed a shaky finger in the general proximity of Anna. Tsuki whispered, "She's scary."

Anna closed her eyes when her ears caught Tsuki's whisper. She was about to explode.

Yoh winced and motioned with his hands for Tsuki not to say anything else to provoke Anna.

Anna took in deep breaths to calm herself down. She opened her eyes, glared down at Tsuki, and demanded, "Name?"

Tsuki looked towards Yoh, who nodded his head for Tsuki to continue. "I'm Asakura Tsu…"

Upon hearing Tsuki say "Asakura," Anna exclaimed, "WHAT? What did you say?" Anna turned towards Yoh. "What's the meaning of this?"

Yoh blinked. "What?"

Anna counted to three before slapping Yoh across the face.

* * *

Horo Horo was enjoying his soak in the hot springs when he heard a loud slap resound throughout the inn. He winced for Yoh's sake and hoped that the inn's customers didn't get scared from Anna's violent tendencies.

He dried himself off, got dressed, and started plodding towards the direction of the front of the inn. Since Yoh was back, Horo Horo wanted to ask him why he had ignored him in the streets.

Horo Horo slid open the door to the front.

"Welcome back Yoh!" Horo Horo's loud exclamation echoed within the silent room. He blinked and looked back and forth between Anna and Yoh. "What's wrong?" It was then that he noticed Tsuki's presence.

"How cute!" exclaimed Horo Horo. He plodded over towards Tsuki, knelt down, and started patting Tsuki on the head. "You're a little too tall to be koropokkuru though," said Horo Horo with a sigh. "Too bad."

Horo Horo glanced up at Yoh with a raised eyebrow. "So Yoh, today..."

Anna cut Horo Horo's sentence off as she pointed her finger at Tsuki. "Explain him to me, Yoh."

Yoh sweatdropped. "Well…as I mentioned before, I went on a little detour on the way home…"

"Get to the main point."

Horo Horo again continued with his question. "Uh...Yoh...today when I saw..."

However, Yoh wasn't listening to Horo Horo, since he was still answering Anna's question. "Um…all right. I was walking in the middle of the street when he called me "Hoshi-niichan" and pulled on my shirt. Apparently, he was lost and couldn't find his way home. By the way, his name is Asakura Tsuki."

Anna glared. "Am I supposed to take your word for it?"

Yoh nodded slowly.

Anna sighed. "Fine. I'll believe you then. But it's too much of a coincidence that his surname is Asakura!"

Yoh grinned. "It **is** such a coincidence! I think he might be my cousin! Wouldn't that be cool?"

Horo Horo cut into the conversation with no regard to what was previously said. He just wanted his question answered. He had been ignored for long enough.

"Hey Yoh…why did you ignore me when I called your name earlier today?"

Yoh turned around. "When did you call my name? Just now?"

"No! I mean, yes, but I also called your name when I passed you in the street across the bakery store around the corner."

Yoh blinked. "I didn't go that way today."

Horo Horo paused, letting Yoh's answer sink in before murmuring, "Really..." He glanced at Yoh and said in a louder voice, "I could have sworn that I saw you! I kept calling your name but you didn't turn around."

His words caught Tsuki's attention, since Tsuki had a similar encounter today, only it was the other way around. He had thought that he had found Hoshi-niichan. Instead, he had stopped someone who looked just like his niichan, a someone who went by the name of Yoh. So Tsuki excitedly suggested, "Maybe you saw Hoshi-niichan! Yoh-san looks awfully like him."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "This is the second time I've heard that name mentioned today. Who is he anyway?"

Anna's question hung in the air, unanswered, until the front door slid open.

The three in the room, along with Tsuki, turned to see who the newcomer was. The boy who stepped in immediately said, "I know who he is." The boy, dressed in a sleeveless red top and baggy black pants, slid the door close behind him.

"Ren!" exclaimed both Horo Horo and Yoh.

"How do you know who he is?" interrogated Anna.

Ren glowered. "I met him in the graveyard a few days ago. He looked exactly like Yoh...but with longer hair. He no longer has his Spirit of Fire with him, but he used the air molecules around him as the medium for his oversoul with his new spirit."

The eyes of the three in the room widened. Only Tsuki was left wondering what was going on. Spirit of Fire? Air molecules? Oversoul? Spirit? Tsuki was really, really lost.

Ren continued. "There is no doubt about his identity." He glanced at Yoh, who quietly whispered what was on everyone's mind except Tsuki's.

"Hao is back."


	19. Phone Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **translations  
> **chichi – father  
> haha - mother

Five people stood in the silent room, Yoh's previous words weighing heavily on their minds. Yoh stood with his head tilted downwards, his long bangs shadowing his eyes. Anna stood with her arms crossed, her foot impatiently tapping the ground. Horo Horo stood with his eyes wide open, his body rigid. Ren stood with his back to the door, his arms crossed like Anna. Tsuki stood next to Yoh, wondering what was going on.

They had never expected Hao to be back, for the fact that Hao was even alive had barely crossed their minds.

Anna frowned. Hao was back. What Ren said when he entered the room ran through her mind again. He said that he met the long-haired shaman in the graveyard a few days ago...Anna's frown deepened. A few days ago?? Why didn't he mention the encounter earlier? He should have told them the day he met Hao!

Anna glared at Ren. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

Three pairs of eyes, Yoh, Horo Horo, and Tsuki's, swerved around to land on Ren, waiting for his answer.

Ren took a step back, surprised by the sudden attention.

"Well..."

If possible, Anna glared harder. "Well what?"

Ren glanced towards his side as Bason materialized. Ren looked down, a faint red tinge coloring his cheeks. He quickly muttered, "I had to do some special training with Bason."

"Special training?" questioned Anna.

The redness in Ren's cheeks deepened. "To overcome his fear of..."

"Fear of?" Anna glowered.

Ren looked away and whispered...

"Cats."

Silence.

Until Horo Horo burst out laughing. "Cats? Bason is afraid of cats? Those cute, fluffy creatures that go nyaa?"

Ren's face reddened some more as he started shaking. Horo Horo continued laughing without noticing that Ren's redness wasn't just from embarrassment anymore. "Kisama!" shouted Ren. He whipped out his spear, which immediately shut Horo Horo up, and started chasing Horo Horo through the inn.

After Ren and Horo Horo left the front of the inn, the room became relatively quiet. Although Anna finally got Ren's answer, it wasn't one that she had expected. She glanced towards Yoh, about to command him to call the police to inform them about Tsuki's whereabouts, but instead, she remained silent.

She couldn't command Yoh, not when he had that look on his face. Anna tore her eyes away from that expression that didn't fit Yoh. She quietly left the room, walking towards the phone in the hallway.

Picking up the receiver, Anna dialed the police's number.

* * *

Only two people, Yoh and Tsuki, were left in the room now. Yoh, however, didn't seem to notice Tsuki's quiet presence. Yoh had a slight frown. His eyes were looking far, far away.

Ren had been practicing with Bason so that he'd be able to fight cats. Did that mean that Hao's new spirit was a cat?

Yoh closed his eyes, his heart constricting.

"Matamune..."

* * *

Hoshi noticed Sora's worry, his own brow furrowing as he asked her what was wrong. When Sora didn't answer immediately, Hoshi glanced around the house, looking for any disturbances within. Alarms started going off in his mind when he noticed the absence of a certain little boy.

Hoshi's mouth slowly parted as he asked, "Where's Tsuki?"

Sora bit her lips and averted her eyes from Hoshi. "He disappeared."

Hoshi's eyes widened as he stopped dead in his tracks. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped. "Really?" whispered Hoshi, his voice deathly quiet.

Manta glanced at Hoshi, wondering who it was that disappeared to have caused such a reaction in Hoshi. Manta didn't think that Hoshi was the kind to become concerned over a missing person.

Sora fretted. "I don't know what to do...I called the police and they said they couldn't do anything until tomorrow!"

Hoshi opened his mouth to answer just as the phone rang. Sora quickly rushed towards the phone to pick it up. She pressed the receiver to her ears and closely listened to the policeman's words. The two boys could only hear slight bits of the conversation.

When Sora put the receiver down, she quickly told the two boys what the policeman had said. "The police told me that someone reported to them about Tsuki's whereabouts." Sora paused and then said, "He was taken to Funbari Onsens."

"Funbari Onsens! That's Yoh's place!" exclaimed Manta.

Sora blinked and looked at Manta. "Yoh…as in Asakura Yoh?"

Manta nodded.

Sora smiled grimly. "It seems that I have to meet him sooner than I expected…I was going to wait until we settled down before confronting him. Now I have no choice but to go."

"Why is it such a hard thing to confront Yoh? He's not a very intimidating person," declared Manta.

"That's what I've heard too," answered Sora. "I've heard that the youngest Asakura was an easy-going, laid back boy. I came to Tokyo first instead of Izumo because I wanted to meet him before meeting my parents. I don't know…I thought that he might listen to my plead and help me persuade my parents to accept Tsuki."

"What does Yoh have to do with your parents?" wondered Manta.

"Kino-haha and Yohmei-chichi?"

Manta blinked. "Eh?? Your parents are Yoh's grandparents? Then you're Yoh's aunt!"

Sora nodded. "So you're an acquaintance of my nephew? Sorry...but I have no time to chat right now. I have to go pick up my son."

"Wait, I'll go with you since I know the place." Manta moved forward to accompany Sora, but Hoshi grabbed Manta's arm to restrain him.

Hoshi gave a slightly apologetic look to Sora. "Sorry, okaasan. I have to show him something before I go with you. I"ll catch up with you later."

Sora had expected Hoshi to be there to support her, to guide her when she was going to meet the nephew she had never seen before. But it seemed that Tsuki's disappearance, which was leading towards her encounter with Asakura Yoh, had bad timing. Why? Because it was extremely rare that Hoshi had brought a friend back home with him. Back in America when they had been living in the countryside, Hoshi hadn't had much of an opportunity to make any friends. Now that they moved to such a populated city as Japan, Sora believed that Hoshi finally had a chance to make new friends. And today, Hoshi actually brought a friend home...and Tsuki had to be missing to spoil Hoshi's plans.

Sora paused for a bit before saying, "All right. Be sure to come later...I need you there."

Hoshi gave a small nod as the door shut close behind Sora.

The room was uncomfortably silent as Hoshi motioned for Manta to follow him into his room.

Hoshi opened his closet and plunged through his clothes. Out came t-shirts, jeans, long sleeved shirts, sweats, shorts, khakis, and a whole lot of other battered clothes. Manta blinked. He hoped that those clothes weren't the clothes that Hoshi was going to show him since Hao certainly didn't wear any of those kinds of clothes. However, while Manta was once again lost in his thoughts, Hoshi had stopped his onslaught of clothes. He reached down into the deepest corner of his closet and pulled.

Out came his boots and his gloves.

Then came his cloak and his red pants with star stripes.

Lastly came his star earrings.

Hoshi gently grouped them together. Although his clothes didn't trigger any of his memories, they still had a nostalgic pull on him. All Hoshi had to do now was turn around and show these to Manta, and then his identity would be clear to him.


	20. Identity

_Thump._

_Thump thump._

What was that noise? Sora took in a few deep breaths, her heart pounding way too quickly. She had to calm herself down somehow.

_Thump._

_Thump thump._

It was an easy thing to say, the fact that she needed to calm down. But it wasn't an easy thing to do. Just saying, "Calm down," to herself didn't help calm her nerves. Her heart was still pounding and pounding and pounding. Still too fast.

Her nervousness wasn't unexpected. This day was the day that she had both dreaded and looked forward to for the past seventeen years.

The birth of her first son, Asakura Hoshi, was one of her greatest joys in life. She had discovered when Hoshi was still a toddler that unlike herself, he was able to see spirits. It was Autumn then, and her son had been happily jumping on the brown leaves that the trees had shed. She had smiled gently, cherishing her son's cheerful laughter. However, her smile quickly turned into a frown when Hoshi stopped laughing and jumping around.

At that time, she asked him what was wrong.

Her toddler son looked up at her with sad eyes. He then pointed a shaky finger at the crackled, brown leaves.

"Kaasan, why are they dead?"

Sora had been confused. Was her son asking her why the leaves were dead? It was Autumn, and the leaves were bound to fall. Her son quickly answered her question however, with a statement that surprised her.

"The little people holding the leaves...they're not moving."

Her heart had started pounding and pounding and pounding. It was then that Sora discovered that Hoshi had a connection with the spiritual world. She was only a normal human being. But Hoshi, he was different. He was a shaman, and as a shaman who carried the Asakura blood, he had every right to be acknowledged as a descendent of the Asakura family.

Although Sora had already decided that she would return to the Asakura family, it was then that her resolve became firm.

She would definitely return to the Asakura family, for she needed to demand for her children to be acknowledged as Asakuras.

* * *

After the phone call, Anna returned to the front of the inn only to see Yoh and Tsuki having a staring contest. Immediately, she became irritated. Here was another free loader in the form of an immature boy. Her inn wasn't a charity service!

She sighed as she walked outside to put up the "closed for the day" sign.

When she entered the inn again, Yoh and Tsuki were still at their staring contest. Anna frowned.

"Don't forget you have training first thing in the morning, Yoh."

Yoh blinked. "What?"

Tsuki immediately noticed Yoh's slip and started grinning. "Yoh-san lost! I won!"

Anna couldn't keep the slight smile off her face as she neared the counter, all the while hearing Yoh's claims that Tsuki hadn't won fair and square.

* * *

Sora's resolve to return to Japan almost died along with the deaths of her son and her husband. To this day, she regretted that her first son had never had the chance to meet his grandparents. She regretted letting her son and her husband leave. She shouldn't have let them leave that day when they received the letter addressed from Hao...

For when they left, they never came back.

Sora hadn't kept in touch with the Asakura family in the seventeen years that she had been away. But she had read about him in one of her books. Asakura Hao. Yes, she had read a tiny excerpt about him. She learned as much as one could learn about the Asakura family from the old records and books. With her inability to see spirits, knowledge was the next best thing she could attain. When Sora had first read the excerpt about her ancient ancestor, she had been surprised that someone like him was part of her family.

She had only been a little girl when she had chanced upon that excerpt. She had stood upon a stool in order to reach one of the higher shelves. Taking down an old, dusty volume, she had carefully blown the dust away. When she tried opening the book, the book fell open to a page on its own.

That was where she found the excerpt on Asakura Hao.

The book was surprisingly vague about her mysterious ancestor. The excerpt only held a grand total of three sentences. She couldn't remember the exact words anymore, but it had said something about Hao being a tall, powerful shaman who was a disgrace to the Asakura family. He was so powerful that he was able to reincarnate, but he had been sealed at one point. He was bound to return though. Sora had blinked when she had read those lines. A powerful shaman, but still a disgrace to the family? That was like the reverse of her own situation. She was a weak shaman, so she was a disgrace to the family. Actually, it was more like...she wasn't even a shaman.

Hao was entirely different though. He was powerful. He had power. Yet he was still a disgrace. Immediately, Sora had been intrigued by her mysterious ancestor. She wanted to find out more about him. She began flipping through all the other books in the room, but she did not find out any more about him.

Except for those three lines in a book stuffed away on an almost out of reach shelf, Hao was nonexistent.

Or so Sora believed. For how could someone who lived a thousand years ago exist anywhere else than in books? Still, Sora's curiosity hadn't been quenched, so she timidly ventured towards her parents to ask them the forbidden question.

"Who's Hao?"

Once the question left her mouth, her parents' eyes immediately widened.

"Where did you hear about him?" harshly demanded her father, Yohmei.

Sora cringed. She understood from her father's tone that she shouldn't have asked the question. But she was curious, and she wanted to know. "I read about him in one of the books..."

Her father took her tiny hands and demanded her to show him the book. He began complaining that all she knew how to do was read useless books. Sora felt like crying. She didn't want him to see the book, for she knew he was going to do something bad to it. And he did. He burned it.

Sora learned to never ask about Hao.

The next time she heard about Hao, she was no longer a child. It was a few years after she settled down in America. She had been sifting through her mail when she saw a letter addressed to her from her parents.

She hadn't heard from them for years. She didn't know what to expect from the letter. Were they going to welcome her back? It had been a wild desire, but the possibility was there. Sora had nervously opened the letter.

The letter was written in her father's usual, tidy handwriting, but Sora noticed that the strokes weren't as solid, but rather shaky, as if her father had been unsure of his words. _Hao's back._ Stated the letter simply. Sora's hope fell. It wasn't a letter welcoming her back. _Your sister gave birth to twins._ _Asakura Hao and Asakura Yoh..._

The letter continued, but Sora didn't want to read anymore of it. Her family didn't even accept her, so why tell her about these familial matters? They hadn't wanted to tell her anything about Hao, and now it was too late to tell her about him.

Sora had been forced to reread that letter when her son and her husband never came back.

She discovered then that the person who killed her loved ones must have been the very same shaman that she had been fascinated with when she was a young girl. The very same shaman who had three lines dedicated to him in that old, dusty book.

Asakura Hao.

She'd never forget him.

Little did she know that the shaman occupying her mind was currently residing in her very own house.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hoshi held his old clothing with a firm grip. All he had to do was turn around, show his old clothes to Manta, and his identity would finally be crystal clear to him. Tao Ren had called him Asakura Hao. It felt right...it felt like his name, but Hoshi wanted no doubts.

With that, Hoshi slowly turned around.

When Manta's eyes landed on the clothes, Manta stood rooted to the spot, unable to say a word. His mouth became dry. He tried to make his mouth work. It was hard. But finally, Manta opened his mouth to confirm Hoshi's identity.

* * *

_Thump. Thump._

It must have been difficult for her nephew, Asakura Yoh, to live knowing that his own twin was a thousand year old murderer. She couldn't imagine what kind of life her nephew led.

_Thump._

And now she was about to meet Asakura Yoh who, in turn, was the twin to her mysterious ancestor.

_Thump. Thump._

Sora took in another deep breath. She was here to pick up Tsuki. And in doing so, she would meet her nephew. She noticed the "closed for the day" sign, but that was of no importance. She was ready. Gathering up all the courage she had, she slid open the door to Funbari Onsens.

* * *

Anna was irritated when she heard the door slide open. She had already put out the sign that said they were "closed," so who was walking into the inn right now? Couldn't that person read? Just as Anna was about to ask the person to leave, the woman began speaking.

"I'm here to pick up my son, Tsuki. He's here, isn't he?"

Oh. So the woman was the little boy's mother. That was fine with her. The fewer the freeloaders, the better.

Anna pointed in the direction of the other door.

"He's in there playing with Yoh."

The woman's voice was a little shaky as she thanked Anna for the information.

* * *

Sora was disappointed when she didn't see Asakura Yoh the moment she opened the door. Only a young lady, who sported a very annoyed expression, was at the counter, apparently busy with some calculations. Sora calmed herself down and asked the girl about Tsuki. The girl told her that he was inside, playing with Yoh.

Her nephew.

_Thump. Thump._

Sora slid open the door to the next room. Her eyes landed on Tsuki immediately. Tsuki was playing with an older boy who had his back to her. Tsuki's eyes immediately lit up as he exclaimed, "Kaachan!" He happily ran into the open arms of his mother.

With Tsuki safely in her arms, Sora's attention returned to the older boy who Tsuki had been playing with. Sora didn't know what to expect from Yoh. She didn't even know what he looked like.

Sora never ever expected Yoh...

...to look exactly like her adopted son Hoshi.

As Yoh turned around, Sora was hit with a horrible, horrible realization. Her grip on Tsuki's hands tightened, causing Tsuki to wince.

"You're Yoh...that means...that means...Hoshi is..."

* * *

Manta finally got the words out.

"Asakura Hoshi is not your name."

Hoshi stared back at Manta with unblinking eyes. He had been waiting for this moment.

Manta continued.

"Asakura Hoshi is actually..."

* * *

"You're Yoh...that means...that means...Hoshi is..."

"Asakura Hoshi is actually..."

"Asakura Hao," finished both Sora and Manta.

Hoshi, who had finally confirmed his identity, closed his eyes. Sora, on the other hand, closed her eyes as well. However, a trickle of water ran down her cheeks.


	21. Reality

Manta closely watched the other boy's reaction to his words. The other boy's eyes remained closed, as if letting the words sink in.

Finally, after an almost unbearable silence for Manta, the other boy opened his eyes. Still, he did not look in Manta's direction. Instead, he focused his attention on his clothes. Manta felt like he was being ignored. The other boy held his clothes in midair, indecisive about what to do with them. Finally, after another long pause, he gradually stuffed his clothes back into his closet. Then, after all that, he finally glanced at Manta.

"Do you expect me to say something to you?"

Manta blinked and then nodded slowly. "Of course...I just told you something really drastic!" And there he was, acting as if nothing had happened.

The other boy smirked. "Well, you can call me Hoshi, or Hao, whichever you prefer."

Manta fell over. That wasn't what Manta expected him to say. Not at all.

Hoshi...er...Hao...er...Hoshi...Manta couldn't decide what he would rather call the other boy.

Seeing the confusion on Manta's face, the boy smirked once again. "Can't decide? Well, call me Hoshi...for now." His expression softened. If it was up to him to decide...he wished he could hold on to this name for a while longer. But that wasn't the way reality worked, for by now, Sora kaasan...he shook his head...Sora surely met Asakura Yoh already. And he knew that once she met him, nothing would ever be the same again.

At least he had the chance to learn his identity before that...at least he wasn't as shocked as how Sora must be right now...

"Tell me more about myself," said Hoshi suddenly.

Manta blinked. "Um..." He wondered how he should begin telling Hoshi about his past. Should he say, "You're a crazy shaman who wants to kill all the humans" or "you're Yoh's twin brother" or "I think you're wrong?"

Hoshi glanced at Manta with an inquiring stare.

Manta sighed. Here goes nothing...

* * *

A trickle of water ran down Sora's cheeks. Her adopted son Hoshi...and her mysterious ancestor...the murderer of her son and her husband...were all the same person! She didn't want to believe it. How could the innocent boy who smiled so warmly at her ever be a murderer?

She first laid eyes upon him on that fateful morning. She had been outside admiring the bright sunshine. It was kind of lonely living in the countryside since no one else lived close to them. She only had her son while her son only had her. She had been thinking then...about how nice it would be to have some more company. However, her son Tsuki had never complained about being lonely. That day like always, Tsuki gazed at his namesake, the barely discernible moon. It was daylight, and the sun overshadowed the moon in those times. In Tsuki's gaze, Sora could detect a twinge of loneliness that Tsuki kept hidden deep within.

The twinge of loneliness disappeared quickly as Tsuki ran around the open field, enjoying the breeze. Sora enjoyed the day, but not as much as she enjoyed the night. It was during nighttime that both the stars and the moon came out. She loved the night sky, which was home to both the stars and the moon. Her children. Hoshi and Tsuki.

Suddenly, Tsuki gave a little "Eep!" as he tripped and fell flat on his face.

Sora got up quickly, afraid that something had happened to Tsuki. She was relieved when she saw Tsuki on the ground, rubbing his nose. He was okay.

Sora came closer to Tsuki to help him stand up. It was then that she noticed the reason for Tsuki's fall.

She almost forgot to breathe when she first laid her eyes on him. For his appearance...it was just that stunning. He didn't look as if he was part of this world. Laying there in the tall grasses with the sunshine shining through the leaves of a nearby tree...she almost mistook him for a fallen angel. His long hair splayed around him, the wind gently playing with the silky tendrils. His expression was so peaceful that Sora almost didn't want to disturb him, until Tsuki snapped her out of her trance.

"Ne, Kaachan, why is he sleeping on the ground?" After Tsuki rubbed his hurt nose, he finally noticed that he had tripped over a human being.

Sora blinked and glanced at Tsuki and then at the boy. What was she doing, just standing here gawking at the boy? She had to check to see if he was all right.

She carried him back home and tended to his injuries. When he woke up...he looked at them blankly, before telling them that his name was Hoshi. Sora had cried then...because he reminded her so much of her older son. Sora had thanked whatever deity that was watching over her and Tsuki...for granting her wish...for giving her another son...for brightening their future...

Now, Sora wished she hadn't found him on that day.

For Hao's twin was standing right before her, and that was the reality she had to accept. There was no doubt that Yoh and Hoshi looked exactly the same.

Why did Hoshi...no...Asakura Hao...had to come into her life? Why?

Sora closed her eyes. She wished, over and over again, that she had never found him. For it wasn't a gift from God. The boy she had found that day wasn't an angel. He was the exact opposite of her first impression of him...and that was what was scary...the way he manipulated her into thinking that he was innocent...

"Kaachan, why are you crying?"

She was suddenly jerked back into reality. She had once again been lost in her thoughts...reminiscing about times that were better forgotten. She glanced at Tsuki's alarmed face, wanting to reassure him with a smile. But she couldn't. She couldn't smile. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't smile.

She was still looking down at Tsuki, unwilling to look up at her nephew. If looking up meant that she'd see a replica of him standing in front of her...then she didn't want to look up. She would rather never look up than to accept that he wasn't the boy she thought he was.

But alas...that wasn't the way reality worked.

Sora felt gentle hands wipe away her tears. The hands slowly tilted her head up, forcing her to gaze into the dark, penetrating eyes of Asakura Yoh. His solemn expression was more befitting of a mature young man, rather than the young boy that he was. It reminded Sora so much of **him** that Sora's heart clenched once again.

"Does he live with you?"

Sora nodded slowly, still unable to speak.

Yoh's mouth quivered slightly as he quietly uttered his next words.

"Will you take me to him?"


	22. Gone

Anna frowned deeply. It was already late in the night, but Yoh still went out with that older woman. He had seemed alarmingly serious for once, so Anna hadn't forbidden him to leave. He was going to meet Hao. But still.

Annoyed, Anna slammed the record book close. Why was she so ticked off? She continued frowning as she put away the book. She glanced at the clock. Should she wait for him to come back? But that would make her seem too eager to see him come home. She sighed. Why hadn't she gone with him? She had thought that it would be better to let Yoh go by himself. But apparently she was wrong, since she was fretting so much right now. She frowned again. She should probably just go to sleep right now and save the yelling for tomorrow morning.

As she got up to go to her room, Horo Horo finally came back in after Ren's wild chase around the entire inn. Anna was surprised that they hadn't woken up the inn's customers with their clamor, but then it was a given that Funbari Onsen's customers had to be heavy sleepers. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to sleep at all, due to Anna's constant reprimanding of Yoh and the others.

Not to mention Anna's infamous slaps.

* * *

Horo Horo heaved a sigh of relief when Ren finally stopped chasing him. Geez, why was Ren so worked up over his teasing about those cute fluffy creatures that went nyaa? What had Horo Horo said wrong? What he had said was perfectly true. Ren seriously needed to learn how to lighten up sometimes.

Horo Horo stopped his train of thought as Ren gave him that glare of his. Horo Horo sweatdropped. He was ready to take off the moment Ren showed any sign of giving chase once again.

Until that icy voice broke in, of course.

"You two, stop being so childish," snapped Anna.

Horo Horo immediately gave his attention to Anna. "Roger!" He gave her a supposedly reassuring smile that promised that he'd stay out of trouble. However, it turned out as a goofy grin that only caused Anna to narrow her eyes more.

Ren, on the other hand, reluctantly let his annoyance subside. After all, he couldn't do much against Anna's wrath. He glanced around the empty room with one eyebrow raised.

"Where'd Yoh go?"

Horo Horo looked around as well. "Yeah, and where'd that kid go?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "If you two hadn't been so busy chasing each other around, you'd know!"

Ren seemed to want to protest, but he was cut off by the ringing telephone.

Anna fumed. Who was calling at this ungodly hour? She stormed over to the telephone, debating whether or not to pick it up. If she did pick it up, she could choose not to listen to whoever was at the end of the other line and slam the receiver back down. That sounded like a satisfying plan.

And so, as calmly as she could, she picked up the phone.

"He's gone!" was the first thing she heard. This was a waste of her time. People need to be clearer with their words. How was she supposed to know who "he" was supposed to be? Geez...people and their ambiguity! Especially at such a late hour! She was supposed to be in bed by now.

But she had a feeling that this "he" was important, so she had restrained herself from the satisfaction of slamming the phone down. She patiently listened to the other boy's ramblings. Afterwards, she hung up and immediately headed outside.

Horo Horo trailed after Anna. "Where are you going?"

Anna glanced over her shoulder at the two boys. "To where Yoh is."

Ren's eyes widened slightly. "Did Yoh leave to meet Hao?"

Anna nodded, her hands clenched. "Apparently. But I doubt he'll be able to meet him."

"Why not?"

Anna looked forward grimly. "He's gone. Or so Manta says over the phone."

* * *

Manta had only begun to tell Hoshi about Asakura Hao when Hoshi started laughing.

And laughing

_And laughing._

Manta truly thought that Hoshi had gone insane, for he wouldn't stop laughing. Manta was frightened by Hoshi's insane laughter. What had he said to cause such a reaction?

Hoshi shook his head wildly, his loose strands whipping about his face.

"She knows. She knows now that she's seen him." Hoshi continued laughing that wild laugh of his as he stumbled over to his closet.

_Snap_.

He glanced down impassively.

He ignored the cracked star earrings lying next to his feet as he pulled out some clothes and stuffed them in a bag.

"What are you doing?" questioned Manta, his eyes wide.

Hoshi glared at Manta. "What do you think? By the way, do you have any money?" Manta blinked and felt around for his wallet. He slowly pulled it out, wondering why Hoshi was asking. Hoshi immediately snatched away the wallet as Manta was taking it out. He then swung his bag over his shoulders.

"I thought you were going after her!" sputtered Manta, not really caring that his money just got taken away. By the look of things, Hoshi was clearly planning on leaving.

Hoshi shrugged.

"But you promised her!"

Hoshi looked away. Promises were such fragile things...easily broken.

Before he left, Hoshi gave one last laugh. He had been on the verge of a breakdown ever since the day of his nightmare...the day that he discovered he was a murderer of his own kin. He had somehow remained sane for all these days, but when he listened to Manta talk about his old identity, something in him finally snapped.

Hoshi choked back his laughter as a smile full of regret appeared in its place. "I...have to leave, for I've been living a lie all this time...a lie too good to be true. And now, I must accept reality."

Manta was speechless.

The only thing left of the other boy in the flurry of his leave was...

A pair of broken, star earrings.

* * *

Tsuki glanced up at his kaachan and then up at Yoh-san. The two of them were both surprisingly serious. And unsmiling. His kaachan had even cried a few moments ago! He was utterly confused by everyone's actions around him.

He felt like he was being kept out of something very, very big.

His kaachan's hands tightly gripped his as they walked along the path towards their house. Her grip was so tight that his hands were turning white. He tried to keep from wincing. His kaachan didn't seem to notice despite his frequent tries to break out of her tight grip.

Yoh-san, who had seemed extremely aloof previously, said not one word. He followed them quietly, occasionally raising his head up to glance at the stars. Despite the little time that Tsuki had known Yoh-san, Tsuki had the impression that it wasn't like him to be so serious.

Really, what was wrong with all of the older people around him?

Tsuki thought really, really hard, trying to remember everything he had heard in Yoh-san's house. He had tried to introduce himself to the pretty yet scary female when she started yelling. She even slapped Yoh-san! Scary indeed. Tsuki didn't want to be anywhere near her. Then, a funny, blue-haired guy came in and started patting him on his head. Tsuki made a face. He wasn't a puppy or anything! Afterwards, a weird guy with pointy purple hair walked in and said something that made everyone freeze.

That's it! What had he said?

The others had been talking about Hoshi-niichan before the pointy-haired guy came in.

Tsuki frowned. What had they been saying about Hoshi-niichan? It better not have been something bad!

He was lost in his simple thoughts during the entire trip home. Before he knew it, he was already standing before his own house.

He glanced up at Sora-kaachan and Yoh-san, who both had grim expressions. Tsuki frowned. He really, really couldn't understand why they were so unhappy. Tsuki would have been elated about being home if it weren't because of their serious expressions!

Sora-kaachan looked at Yoh-san, giving him a nod of affirmation.

With that, she opened the door, which surprisingly, was unlocked.

Tsuki immediately brightened and bounced inside. Yoh-san and Sora-kaachan remained motionless, standing just outside the door.

He glanced back at them. "Come on!"

They still remained rooted to the spot. Tsuki frowned. He wanted to see Hoshi-niichan right NOW. Why was his kaachan and Yoh-san acting so weirdly? Tsuki decided to forget about them. He wanted to see Hoshi-niichan and tell him that he was sorry for making him and his kaachan worry.

Tsuki went through the house, calling Hoshi-niichan. Hoshi-niichan didn't come out to greet him though. Maybe he was mad at him. Tsuki continued calling for Hoshi-niichan. He even went into Hoshi-niichan's room to look for him.

But he wasn't there either.

Instead, Tsuki saw a short boy picking up some broken pieces off the floor. Tsuki was shocked that the boy was actually shorter than him. After all, Tsuki wasn't very tall.

Nevertheless, Tsuki ran up to the short boy and demanded, "Where's Hoshi-niichan?"

The short boy pointed at the doorway.

"Gone," he whispered.

It was then that Tsuki noticed that the broken pieces in the other boy's hands were actually Hoshi-niichan's old earrings! Tsuki's eyes widened as he grabbed them from the other boy.

"Ouch!" He winced as the pieces made an ugly cut in his finger. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the broken earrings in his hands.

He heard footsteps behind him. Could it be that Hoshi-niichan had come back? Tsuki hopefully turned around.

Only to see Yoh-san and Sora-kaachan standing behind him, both with equally unreadable expressions.

Tsuki dropped the earrings and started sniffling.

Hoshi-niichan had left them.


	23. Revelations

They all grouped together in the small living room. After all those days of meeting one person and not the other, they were finally united in the same place. All except the very person who had brought them together.

Asakura Hao, or dear Hoshi-niichan for Tsuki.

Sora routinely began serving tea for her visitors and for her son, Tsuki. She placed down seven cups for the seven people present. She didn't know all of their names yet. Out of the five strangers that she met today, she only knew the names of Asakura Yoh and Oyamada Manta. The other three hadn't introduced themselves yet. She began studying each of her guests as she poured the tea.

First was the young lady that had informed Sora of Yoh's whereabouts. Sora's first impression of the young girl was that she wasn't someone you would want to mess with. Right now, just as before, she had that annoyed expression that said, "Don't you dare mess with me." Sora immediately knew that the young girl would be a very dominating wife.

The short boy, Oyamada Manta, thanked Sora as she poured him his tea. Sora had thought that Manta had been a friend he brought home, but maybe that wasn't the case. It didn't matter to her anymore now anyway. Sora noticed Manta's nervous smile as he dropped his large book on the ground to help him reach the sofa.

On the other side stood a boy who didn't look as if he were Japanese. He had surprisingly golden eyes that reminded her of a calculating feline about to pounce. His hairstyle was very surprising as well, since his violet hair stood up in one, stiff spike. Sora slowly poured him his tea, noting his attire. Maybe he was Chinese?

Next to him sat a boy who tied a towel around his forehead. His hair was equally surprising, maybe even more...since it was sky blue and stood in several spikes rather than one. She had seen people with purple hair before. Those were rare, but they were out there. But blue? That wasn't natural. Nevertheless, she poured him his tea.

Her eyes went to her nephew last. He had medium-length hair up to his shoulders. The way his hair draped down strangely reminded her of a willow tree. His eyes were dark but kind...they were eyes that one could easily drown in. His appearance reminded her so much of him that she couldn't tear her eyes away. She forced her eyes to travel up to the blindingly orange headphones behind his ears. It would have been very unlike him to wear something like that. It was then that Sora was finally able to take her eyes off of him.

After pouring the warm tea into everyone's cup, Sora set the tea kettle down. She took her spot next to Tsuki. Each of them was strangely fascinating in their own sense. All of them were here because of him.

What was their connection with him?

Sora wanted to know...yet at the same time, she didn't want to know.

She glanced at Tsuki and hugged him. Gently, she whispered in his ears to be a good boy and wait in his room.

Tsuki glanced up, angry that she was going to keep him out of this conversation. Sora's mind remained firm despite her son's protest.

Tsuki glumly left for his room.

Sora watched Tsuki's lingering form. When she was absolutely sure that Tsuki was out of hearing range, she took in a deep breath and began talking. They had to start somewhere, after all.

* * *

They listened to the woman, who introduced herself as Asakura Sora and her son as Asakura Tsuki, quite intently. When she told them her name and her place in the Asakura family, they were all shocked.

Tsuki really was related to Yoh, and to think that Yoh had been joking about it earlier! Yoh even had an aunt that he never knew about.

They looked at Yoh inquiringly, who shrugged to show his ignorance of that fact. He hadn't known. None of them had known beforehand, except for Manta who had heard a little about it from Sora a few hours ago.

Then, each of them introduced themselves, telling her their names and their relationship with Yoh. Sora nodded, glad to know the information.

After that, Sora continued with her explanations about her background. She told these near strangers everything she had told him. From how she was a shame to her family, to how she had left with her husband to America, to how her husband and her son had died, to how she had finally decided to come back for Tsuki to be acknowledged as an Asakura.

They wanted to know everything of course, and her background interested them, but what they really wanted to know was her connection with Hao.

She couldn't sidestep that part forever.

She closed her eyes and continued her narration.

* * *

"I found him outside on the grass one morning. He was unconscious, so I took him in and tended to his injuries. When he woke up, he told me his name was Hoshi."

Why had he done that? From the very start...he had been lying to her.

"Since then, it has been a year. He lived with us all that time...as such an unassuming boy, such a good brother to Tsuki and a good son..."

Sora's voice broke.

"I wouldn't have even suspected him...to be...to be such a monster! I...only found out because I saw you...and I know that you are Hao's twin."

She turned towards Yoh, her hands almost covering her mouth, almost muffling her next words.

"And Hao...he is the one who murdered my husband and my son."

* * *

Manta's eyes widened. Hao was the murderer of Sora's husband and son? That...that must have been what he meant when he said "She knows." Hoshi had left...all the while laughing that maniacal laugh, all because he discovered that she must had found out.

Didn't that mean something?

Hoshi had cared...about how she thought. The boy that Manta had met was Hao, that was true, but at the same time, he wasn't exactly Hao. He was Hoshi.

And Hoshi wasn't the one who was a murderer.

The Hoshi that Manta knew...was an extremely smart student...a genius even, that smiled warmly at his loyal spirit. Sometimes, he was cocky, and gave those infuriating smirks. And he was overly obsessed with stars. He, just like Yoh, could stand for hours admiring the outdoors. That was the Hoshi that Manta knew.

Manta wished that it were as simple as that...that the fact that Hao was a murderer was in the past. Hoshi was not the same Hao as before...but his past couldn't be entirely ignored either.

But condemning Hoshi for that was the same as condemning a new born baby. Hoshi didn't even remember anything about his past. His life with Sora and Tsuki had been the only thing he knew. People weren't born evil...and the same applied to Hoshi.

The more Manta thought about it, the more he sided with Hoshi, despite what he had thought about him earlier.

"He's not like that!" burst Manta suddenly, unable to withhold his thoughts any longer.

All eyes landed on him. It strangely reminded him of the time he had tried to defend Hoshi in cram school. But this time, it was different, wasn't it? The people he was trying to convince right now were his friends. Surely they would understand.

"And he hasn't been lying to you..." continued Manta as he firmly stared at Sora.

Sora's eyes demanded him to continue.

"He truly didn't know."

Sora remained patient. "What do you mean?" She thought back to the time he had picked up her husband and son's photo...hadn't he shown more than passing interest in that photo?

Manta shook his head to indicate his disagreement. Hoshi hadn't been lying at all, and he was the only one who knew that. Because...

"He has amnesia."

Someone who had been drinking their tea choked.


	24. In the Dark

Darkness.

He trudged along the dimly lit path, heading nowhere in particular. Where did he have to go? He had left his only family behind. He grimly glanced at Hoshisuke. His spirit was all that he had left now. He felt Hoshisuke circle around him, letting his spirit's gentle presence calm him.

Hoshi's long hair shadowed his eyes as he focused his attention on his feet. One step in front of the other. One, two. One, two. He forced himself to keep walking, to walk as far away as he could from the place he had come to know as home.

The bag he brought with him was just another heavy weight. He didn't even bother to carry it anymore. He let it drag along the floor as he trudged along.

After walking among the oppressive Tokyo buildings for what seemed like eternity under the never-ending night sky, Hoshi finally spotted a tall tree with a thick, sturdy trunk. He walked under the tree and glanced upwards through hundreds of branches and leaves. He climbed up to the lowest branch and began jumping from one branch to the other. When he reached the second to highest branch, he sat down and made himself comfortable.

From his high vantage point in the tree, he could see the dark sky without any obstruction from buildings or telephone poles. It would have been nice if he could have seen the stars clearly, but a patch of clouds had suddenly rolled in and obscured the perfect view.

He frowned. Even Nature was against him!

Hoshi closed his eyes. He was too tired to think for today. He had heard a few things from Manta...but the one he was most concerned about now was that Asakura Hao had hated all non-shamans and had not hesitated to kill them. Was that why he had killed Tsuki's father and brother? No...that couldn't have been the reason, since Sora had told him that the other Hoshi had been a shaman. Then...what could have possibly been the reason?

His thoughts didn't remain on that topic for very long, for they landed on another topic he was extremely concerned about.

If he had hated non-shamans and went out of his way to kill them...did that mean that if he had met Sora and Tsuki before he lost his memory...that he would have killed them too?

He shuddered at that thought.

Even if he killed all the humans in the world...he wouldn't touch Sora and Tsuki.

Even if they hated him now.

Hoshi struggled with his thoughts as he slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

_He was once again standing on a wide open field. Tiny daisies dotted the field, enough to make any young girl who liked making flower rings happy. He, on the other hand, had little use for flowers that could be better off regarded as weeds._

_He didn't know if people were supposed to be capable of feeling inside a dream. He certainly wasn't. He felt nothing...nothing more than a steady calmness._

_This time he wasn't hesitant anymore. When he saw the back of the solemn figure with dark, shortly cropped hair, he didn't ask him who he was. He knew already, since he was the one who had killed him. This time, he didn't want to know WHO. He wanted to know WHY._

"_Why did I kill you?" he whispered._

_The figure didn't turn around. Instead, he began walking away from him._

"_Wait!" Hoshi followed the figure. _

_And followed him. _

_And followed him. _

_But despite seeming to have followed him for a long time, he never got any closer. Every time he thought he almost reached the other boy, the other boy turned out to be even farther._

_The figure suddenly stopped walking and instead, got into a fighting pose. He took one step backwards while remaining on his toes. He bent slightly at the knees and held his arms defensively in front of him with his hands clenched into fists._

_Hoshi watched._

_He watched as a group of strangers came up to the figure. They threw countless questions at the lone figure. Each time, he answered with firm shakes of his head._

_Hoshi couldn't hear what they were saying._

_He tried to get closer, but he only caught a glimpse of the group of strangers--a girl with medium-length blond hair wearing a black dress, another girl with bright orange hair tied up in two places holding a pumpkin, a taller girl with blue hair pulled on one side with clips, a boy with painted marks on his cheeks wearing a long cloak, an extremely short, dark-skinned girl--before they vanished._

_And in their place stood himself._

_He watched himself step out of the shadows with one hand raised. A tiny flame floated in his hands, illuminating his face as he questioned the figure one more time. Hoshi watched as his lips moved but no sound came out. The figure disagreed, and the other him shook his head sadly as his lips curled into a smile._

_Immediately afterwards, a giant, flaming arm crashed into the figure._

* * *

None of them knew what to say...they were all speechless after Manta's exclamation. Someone had even choked on their tea. It was...that shocking, after all.

Asakura Hao had amnesia.

Sora's brain numbly registered the reactions of the other four in the room. Ren's hand, with his tea cup in it, was frozen in midair. He had been about to drink his tea...but Manta's words had frozen his action. It was a good thing that he hadn't started drinking yet...he might have choked. Yoh's hands were far, far away from his tea cup, so he had no chance of choking. Anna, on the other hand, quickly put down her tea cup as she turned away from the group while covering her mouth. Her tea cup was half empty, a good indicator that she had been drinking her tea.

But, unlike Anna who was utterly quiet with her choking...Horo Horo was utterly coughing.

Sora let these unimportant observations wash over her. She still felt numb...still unable to think. Hao...had amnesia? If that was true...then she had been kept in the dark all this time. But now that she thought about it...the signs had been there. When he had woken up that day, he had stared at them blankly, before suddenly telling them his name. Then, he had been silent for a long time. She had tried to ask him about his family and his past once, but all he was able to say was, "I don't know." That should have been an obvious enough hint...but still...

"He...he didn't even trust us enough to tell me or Tsuki that..."

Manta's eyes widened. He had hoped that telling her about his amnesia would help her understand Hoshi more, but she didn't seem to think that way. "I-I don't think it's a matter of trust! I think he didn't tell you because of-" Manta fumbled around for the right word, until he received unexpected help.

"Pride," mumbled Ren, his voice almost a whisper. He finally set his tea cup down.

"Self-doubt," added Horo Horo, as he uncomfortably rubbed his nose, glad that his throat wasn't that itchy anymore.

"The course of events," offered Yoh with a smile. He wrapped his hands around his tea cup and took a soothing sip.

Manta smiled gratefully in return for his friends' help before turning his attention back to Sora.

"Yes...mostly likely because of his pride...and self-doubt...and even just the course of events...all those added together...he probably didn't have the chance to tell you."

Sora glanced at each of their expressions, all the while shaking her head. Her eyes slid from the silent Anna, to the serious Ren, to the not-so-serious Horo Horo, to the smiling Yoh, and lastly to the hopeful Manta. She kept shaking her head.

"You guys have forgiven him, haven't you?"

Everyone was silent, unsure of what to say. Had they forgiven him? Was it that easy to forgive and forget?

Silence.

A long, and uncomfortable silence.

Sora almost thought that she wasn't going to get an answer.

It was Ren who finally answered her question after a bit of self evaluation. He hesitantly began addressing his words to her. "Before...Manta's words, I was angry at him for still being alive, for coming back to haunt our lives. But after Manta's words...it was then that I realized," his golden eyes softened, "that he is in almost the exact same position I was in when I met Yoh. I was given a second chance...and now, this is his second chance." Bason was so touched that tears streamed down his face. Such kind and understanding words from his young master!

Sora clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking.

"Second chance? That means you..."

Ren nodded. "I've killed people before."

Sora averted her gaze. Such young boys...were killers and murderers. The world was a cruel place.

Ren continued anyway. "I cannot forgive him for his past. I have no right to do that. His past is his past and cannot be ignored. Doing that...only demonstrates irresponsibility. Just like...I cannot forgive myself for my past either, but," Ren's voice became fiercer, "you have to believe in second chances, or else I wouldn't be here right now."

She wanted to...she wanted to trust him...to trust Hoshi, for he was her son...in addition to being her ancestor and her nephew. But, how would she ever stand to face her husband and her son again...if they knew that she had befriended, even adopted, their very murderer?

Anna cleared her throat. Five pairs of eyes landed on her. She paused, her icy appearance still intact...even though she had only been clearing her throat. She had almost choked on her tea and her throat had been itchy. But now that everyone's attention was on her, she might as well throw in her thoughts on the matter.

"Did you know that Yohmei ojiisan and Mikihisa ojisan attempted to kill Hao...and even Yoh, the moment they were born?"

Sora's eyes widened as she slowly shook her head.

Anna continued.

"They did, because they weren't sure which one of the twins was Hao. However, Hao escaped...and lived on his own ever since then."

Anna let those words sink in before continuing once again, though she had no idea why she was speaking for Hao...she couldn't even stand him...she might even say that she hated him. This time, her hands itched (not her throat anymore!) to slap that face of his, but she continued nonetheless.

"You and Tsuki are the first family he has ever known. If he has changed from the Hao that we know...you two are the ones who have changed him."

Sora had been unable to smile all throughout their talk. Tears were the only things she had been capable of. She covered her face with her hands. What was she doing? These young children around her understood their own feelings much better than she did hers! She was Hoshi's mother now. A mother shouldn't...not even for a moment...hate her own son. She had only been deceiving herself when she said that she hated him. No matter who Hoshi was before, right now he was Hoshi.

And that was enough for her.

If only he knew that...and would return to her and Tsuki.

* * *

Hoshi slowly opened his eyes and was glad to hear birds chirping.

He hadn't gone deaf. He had felt as if he were deaf in that dream. That wasn't a pleasant experience.

Gentle sunlight streamed through the sparse branches at the top of the tree. Hoshi greeted his spirit and stretched as well as he could on the branch before descending down the tree.

He didn't know whether or not his dreams were actual memories, or if they were just figments of his imagination.

He glanced at his bare hands, remembering the dancing flame he had seen there in the dream. He closed his eyes, letting his power surge through his body. Slowly, he managed to coax a tiny flame into existence.

So the dream had to have some credibility to it.

He had seen himself with a group of strangers...well, strangers to the current him. But they had been acquaintances with the former him. Where had they all gone after he lost his memory? Did they even bother to search for him?

Whatever happened...he was now alone.

Hoshi plodded along the now bright path with one intent. He wanted to find out...whether or not humans deserved to live.

And to do that, he would have to stay in the city, among the mobs of humans.


	25. Within Their City

Yoh could offer no words of consolation as he watched Ren try to convince his aunt. A small smile adorned his face when Ren, Horo Horo, and himself had all stuck in a few words for Hoshi. His nervousness--nervousness that he hadn't even noticed was there--subsided then. They weren't angry at him. They weren't angry at Hoshi either. They had both been forgiven. Sort of.

Yoh always believed in his words. People who could see spirits couldn't be bad people. No matter who they were, they shared a special link that made them kin. Even if they didn't share the same blood, they were like one big family. He shared that special link with Ren, Anna, Horo Horo, and Manta, a link that was even more intimate than his link with his real family.

His words didn't just apply to his friends though. His words applied to all the people in the world, enemies and friends alike. That meant the same words applied to Hao. Hao wasn't a bad person. Yoh had wanted to believe those words when he was in Patch, but he had been unsure then. Was it really all right to accept his own brother who had murdered so many people? He couldn't accept his brother. It wouldn't have been right to do so. But he had wanted to so badly. He had actually gone against his own beliefs when he had decided to rid the world of Hao.

When Ren mentioned second chances, Yoh smiled sadly. This wasn't just Hao's second chance. It was also his own second chance. He had been given a second chance to right the wrong he had done against his brother. Hao's new identity as Hoshi had proved his words exactly. It had also proved how wrong he had been.

People who could see spirits couldn't be bad people. Given the chance, given a caring family, even Hao could turn into the teenage boy that his appearance suggested.

Yoh wanted to tell Sora his beliefs that people who could see spirits couldn't be bad people, but his voice caught in his throat as he was about to speak.

He couldn't say that to her.

Not to her.

She couldn't see spirits.

So Yoh sat there, silently watching Ren and Anna convince Sora. He had no words to add to their argument. He was suddenly unsure of his words.

He felt awkward when Anna's words finally convinced Sora to trust Hoshi. His stern and commanding fiancée was the one who convinced Sora. Not him. Manta, Ren, and even Anna had tried so hard to convince his aunt. And yet, what had he done in defense for his brother? Nothing. Nothing at all. Hao's twin brother had just sat there, speechless, unable to put his thoughts together.

He sipped his now cold tea, easily draining the cup as he quietly listened to Sora talk about going to Izumo. She had wanted to go there before school started. But now that Hoshi was missing, she wanted to find him first, to make sure of his safety and to tell him that she trusted him.

They all agreed to help search for the missing Hoshi as soon as the next day dawned. Right now, Manta yawned, causing a train reaction in the others. Horo Horo yawned second, Ren third, Anna fourth, and Sora fifth.

Yoh felt himself yawning as well. Afterwards, he gave a tired smile.

"Time to crash, yeah?"

The others unanimously agreed.

* * *

Although he had lived with Sora and Tsuki for well over a year, Hoshi realized that he hadn't come into contact with many people. Other than Sora and Tsuki, he had only met a few people at cram school, that guy at the convenience store, and a few of Asakura Yoh's friends.

His life had been pretty secluded thus far.

He wandered along the streets, wondering how he should go about his business. As he was busy thinking, the people around him laughed and conversed among themselves, happily living their worriless lives. A teenage girl was wildly gesturing to her friends, her voice rising higher and higher with each exclamation she made. An older man was sitting on an old, gray bench with his newspaper out in front of him. A couple was walking hand in hand, the girl occasionally giggling at some joke her boyfriend made. Hoshi walked past all of them, uninterested. He wasn't part of their lives.

_Bang_.

Someone actually bumped into him. Hoshi felt himself fall forward; however, his free arm quickly shot out to stop his fall. He flipped around nimbly, his eyes narrowing at whoever ran into him.

"Hey, watch where you're-" the brash boy's voice died down as he saw the look on Hoshi's face.

Hoshi calmly dusted himself off.

A wide-lipped boy wearing a beanie spoke up, not noticing Hoshi's expression. "Hey, apologize!"

The first boy quickly shushed the second boy, recognizing Hoshi as a threatening person. He was someone that you didn't want to get on the bad side of.

However, a third boy who was bald shoved Hoshi. "You heard him, apologize!"

Hoshi raised his eyebrow, effectively stopping all further comments and complaints. His voice rang out cool and piercing despite the noise in the streets.

"Apologize, huh?" He was the victim here, not the other way around. He felt a cold hatred towards the three boys flow through his veins. He cracked his knuckles. He had just been walking down the street, busily thinking about what to do next, and these boys just had to run into him. He was feeling a bit pissed off.

The three boys' eyes immediately zoned in to Hoshi's hands, thinking that he might punch them. Instead, when their attention went to his hands, Hoshi's leg shot out as he kicked each of the boys in the shin.

"It's not nice to blame someone else for something you did."

They shivered at the tone of Hoshi's voice as they grabbed their legs in pain. They quickly nodded, showing their agreement with Hoshi's words.

"Tell me your name." His tone gave them no other choice.

"Uh...Buruu Shatou (Blue Chateau)," mumbled the first boy.

"Ma-Massuru Panchi (Muscle Punch)," whispered the second.

"Bouru Boui (Ball Boy)," grumbled the last.

Hoshi quickly registered the three boys' names, though he was disgusted with the names and their idiocy...Blue Chateau? Muscle Punch? Ball Boy? What kind of names were those? Those three idiotic humans must think that they were so clever to give themselves English names. That was fine...but they should have at least pronounced the names without that horrible Japanese accent. He almost didn't recognize what they were saying.

Hoshi's eyes flashed. "I'll remember you three." He for sure would remember these three idiotic humans. He turned around, his hair flying out behind him. The three boys watched with wide eyes as Hoshi turned the corner.

They let out a collective breath when they could no longer see the scary boy. He had looked normal enough, but the presence that he commanded was way above normal.

Suddenly, Muscle Punch blinked. "Doesn't he look a lot like Yoh-san?"

The other two blinked as well when they realized that Muscle Punch's words were true.

* * *

Hoshi felt less agitated after kicking those three boys. His path was clear before him now. He needed to go to the busiest parts of the city, though he didn't know where exactly those were. He had no choice but to wander back into that dinky little convenience store to buy none other than a tour book.

When he walked into the store, he heard the tiny bells above the door jingle. He made his way over to the stack of tour books, glancing at the prices. He grabbed the cheapest Tokyo guide there was and started flipping through it.

Famous shopping and entertainment districts included Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Odaiba...Hoshi flipped the page.

Famous temples and shrines included Sensoji Temple, Meiji Shrine, Sengakuji Temple, Yasukuni Shrine...Hoshi kept flipping the pages.

Famous gardens and parks included Rikugien, Koishikawa Korakuen, Hama Rikyu, Palace East Gardens, Ueno Park, and Mount Takao. Hm. Those actually sounded interesting. He'd love to see Tokyo's gardens, since he was tired of staring at those towering skyscrapers...but that wasn't what he was here for!

Other attractions included the Imperial Palace, Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo Tower, Ryogoku, and NHK Studiopark. Eh...he most likely wouldn't go to any of these. Why would he want to go to "one of the world's largest fish markets" anyway? He wasn't interested in fish.

Hoshi came to the end of the tour book, closing it. Maybe he should buy the tour book after all, just so that he could study which places to go to better.

He brought it to the counter and pulled out Manta's wallet. He counted the money in it, surprised at just how much money there was. At least this way, he wasn't going to starve anytime soon.

Hoshi glanced at the store clerk who was currently polishing his guitar. Hoshi's eyes narrowed a bit. Hoshi couldn't feel any spiritual energy coming from him. This person was either just a normal human being, or a very, very weak shaman. Hoshi couldn't say much about his fashion either. Hoshi took in a deep breath. If he wanted to judge people, he had to know their inner thoughts. Appearances didn't tell him much.

Firm in his resolve, Hoshi began taking down the barriers he had constructed around his mind to prevent other people's thoughts from trickling in. When he had only been living with Sora and Tsuki, it had been fine occasionally hearing their thoughts. It hadn't been too confusing, yet it had already been hard to discern which thoughts were his and which weren't. He could barely imagine how it would be if his mind was left unprotected while he was among mobs of humans. He would most likely go crazy. No doubt about that.

But now wasn't the time to protect his mind. He needed to know.

He imagined his power surging through his brain, battering at the high, almost impenetrable walls. His power poured on, like waves crashing at the boundaries, wanting to be let out. His head pounded as he concentrated.

_Bang._

First hit.

_Crash._

Second hit.

The hits continued, his head started hurting more and more, and yet the barrier still remained strong.

Why had he constructed such a hard to break barrier? He was surprised that he actually had those two dreams before now. He had constructed such a firm barrier, yet those two dreams had managed to strike him at his weakest moments. He mused...that it must have been because the dreams came from his subconscious and not from some outside source.

Finally, cracks appeared in the tall walls. Hoshi grabbed his pounding head and kneeled over. The ignorant store clerk finally stopped cooing over his guitar as he stood up, wondering what had happened to the boy.

It hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt...

He wanted to make it stop.

He clawed at his hair and bit his lips until a trickle of red appeared. His hair came untied from its neat ponytail, falling wildly around his face. A few strands of his hair made their way into his mouth. Hoshi quickly spit them out. He knocked his head against the counter, his eyes wide open yet unseeing.

Suddenly, he saw images. Not with his eyes though.

Millions of images flashed through his mind, all too fast for him to see. Multitudes of color, thousands of people with no names, and heaps of different landscapes flitted within his mind. All disappeared too quickly for him to make anything of them. They were just gibberish, until the last two images appeared.

_Flash._

A small cat, contently curled within his laps, as he adjusted his tall hat and watched the undisturbed landscape in front of him.

_Flash._

Hundreds of men charging at him on the battlefield, determined to kill him. He had been betrayed, betrayed...betrayed by his very followers.

Betrayed.

The word rang continuously inside his head.


	26. The Search

When Yoh felt the sun's warm rays on him, he cracked open one eye. His mind blurrily registered that it was probably morning right now.

Morning?

Yoh quickly sat up, pushing his blankets off of him. His friends and his aunt had agreed to meet at dawn to begin the search, yet he had somehow overslept! Yoh quickly changed his clothes. When he dashed into the dining room, he was still struggling to thrust his left arm into the correct sleeve.

"Morning!" exclaimed Yoh as he finally fixed his shirt and started pulling out his chair. Ren acknowledged Yoh with a brief nod, Horo Horo flashed Yoh a smile, and Manta smiled a bit forcibly. After all, he felt Anna's overpowering, cold presence behind him. Yoh had no time to be cheerful this morning.

"Yoh," was Anna's short and sharp greeting.

Yoh turned towards Anna. "Ah, what is it?" He was already dreading what she was going to say. Was she going to yell at him for waking up late? Or was she going to yell at him for not preparing breakfast? Or was she going to ask him why his cooking always tasted so bad? Or maybe she wanted to yell at him for not helping her with the accounts for the inn? Or maybe he forgot to clean the hot springs yesterday. Or maybe the customers' bed sheets had to be changed! Millions of "maybes" fought among themselves within Yoh's mind.

"Yoh." Here it was! Anna's reprimand should be coming anytime now!

"I have to look after the inn while you guys search for him. Is that okay?"

Yoh blinked. So the answer was "none of the above!" Yoh, relieved, quickly said, "Uh, that's fine. He might come here after all." Manta was finally able to eat his share of breakfast without feeling too wary of what Anna was going to do to Yoh.

Yoh noticed Manta's presence. "Manta! You haven't been here for awhile."

Manta nodded. "Well, you overslept today, so um..." Manta glanced at Anna, who glared at him. He immediately diverted his gaze from her. "Well, I was called over to make breakfast."

"Oh. Sorry about that, Manta!" Yoh smiled widely and started eating his breakfast.

After they hastily ate breakfast, the task of deciding who should search where lay before them. Ren, who had stayed over the previous night, announced that they should first start by searching places that they knew Hoshi had been to before.

Horo Horo thought hard. "Well, I can't say I really met him. I guess I did pass him once in the streets though. I'll go search around that area then."

Ren nodded. "I saw him once in the graveyard, so I'll go there."

Manta thought about his meetings with Hoshi. It seemed that he had met Hoshi more times then anyone else here! "I met him first in cram school and then followed him to the bridge, so I'll search around that area," said Manta finally.

Anna, as she said before, would stay at Funbari Onsens. There was a slight chance that Hoshi might come here.

Yoh hadn't even set his eyes on Hoshi before, but he had heard about him at the convenience store. For him, that was the obvious place to search. "I'll go to the convenience store that I usually go to," decided Yoh.

After determining where each person should search, they set out for their different destinations. They planned to regroup at Funbari Onsens at nighttime.

* * *

Sora wanted to sigh as she prepared a hasty breakfast for herself and Tsuki. It was very lonely this morning, and the house was shrouded in a gloomy silence. She only brought out two sets of plates. The third set remained in the cabinet, unused. The table, usually set for three people, was now set for two.

Tsuki silently sat at the table as Sora finished preparing breakfast. She sat down across from her son and began eating her share without a word. Tsuki glanced at his kaachan glumly, refusing to touch his food.

Sora continued eating, willing Tsuki to eat his breakfast without any questions. She didn't have any answers for him. However, Tsuki was intent on not eating until his kaachan paid him some attention. He refused to touch his food, his gaze focused on his kaachan instead.

Finally, Sora put down her chopsticks, which clinked against the table.

Tsuki jumped at the sudden sound. He diverted his gaze from his kaachan, whose attention was now fixed on him. Every now and then, he glanced back at her.

"Um..." ventured Tsuki finally, uncertain of what to say.

Sora nodded for Tsuki to continue.

"Is Hoshi-niichan coming back soon?" blurted Tsuki.

Sora paused. That was a question that she also wanted to know the answer to. She took in Tsuki's yearning expression. She then smiled gently. "Yes, he will be coming back soon. He will come home, to us." Those words weren't just to reassure Tsuki. They also reassured herself. And if, no, when Hoshi came back, she thought, it would be up to Hoshi to decide whether or not he wanted to tell Tsuki the truth.

As Sora finished putting away the dishes, she began telling Tsuki her plans for the day. "I'm going to be out around this area. You stay home and look after the house okay?"

As Tsuki was about to protest about staying home, Sora continued. "We don't know when Hoshi might come back. I want someone to be home at all times to welcome him back. So be a good boy and stay here, okay?"

Tsuki nodded without protest.

* * *

Hoshi quickly began mending his mental barriers as best as he could, determined to stop the onslaught of images. The images he saw felt out of place. They didn't feel as if they belonged to him, yet at the same time, they did feel like they belonged to him. He was contradicting himself now. How could he feel so conflicted over the two images he saw?

He was breathing heavily, his heart pounding at an insane speed. That should teach him...never to tinker with his own mind. He hadn't understood his ability to hear other people's thoughts that well, so in return, he had created an unskilled barrier for protection.

Also, he had somehow managed to seal off some of his memories within those very walls. Taking down the walls triggered too many of those gibberish images. Unless he could find a way for the images to flow slowly through his mind, he would have to keep them sealed away for now. Otherwise, too many of the images coming at him at once would overwhelm him.

He left a tiny opening in his wall, hoping that it was big enough for him to hear other people's thoughts, and small enough that those confusing images wouldn't start flitting through his mind.

Hoshi finally stood up, albeit a bit shakily. He lifted the tour book from the ground and dropped it on the counter.

The store clerk named Cutter blinked.

"Um...are you okay?"

Hoshi nodded, wondering why he couldn't hear the other person's thoughts. Maybe the hole wasn't big enough for thoughts to trickle in. He focused on trying to hear the clerk's thoughts.

_Sigh...I want to be outside, training with my spirit right now..._

There. Hoshi finally heard the other person's thoughts, but he frowned when he realized that the store clerk really was just a weak shaman. He had no use for him then!

_What's up with this boy? I wondered if his brother caught up with him last time. He came back in after this boy left...claiming that he had forgotten to buy a cd. Geez...it was as if they were playing cat and mouse! I hope they don't do that today..._

His brother?

The first image that came to mind was of Tsuki, beaming up at him. But that clerk wasn't referring to Tsuki. He had to be referring to that boy who looked exactly like him. Asakura Yoh.

Hoshi's heart skipped a beat. Was that why he felt so happy to hear Tsuki call him "niichan?" Was it because he truly did have a younger brother and was yearning to hear those same, exact words?

He hastily paid and started out the door.

He had to get away from here quickly, since they would most likely search this store for him. He shouldn't have come to this convenience store, not when Yoh knew that he had come here before.

The tiny bells above jingled as the door closed behind him.


	27. To Shibuya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **translations:**  
> tenin-san: polite way of addressing a store clerk (I guess it can be translated to Mr. Store Clerk, if you want to think of it that way)

Manta kicked the can out of his way, his hands tucked in his pockets. He had already gone to his cram school, which, as he expected, was deserted at that hour. It was highly unlikely that Hoshi would return there, not if he didn't want to be found. Now that Manta thought about it, it was highly unlikely that Hoshi would return to any of the places that the four of them had decided to search.

Would they be able to find Hoshi before their summer vacation ended and the school year resumed once again?

Manta uncomfortably tugged at his sleeves as he glanced down at the glistening water below the bridge. He was currently standing on the bridge that he and Hoshi had stood upon. The sun was high in the sky at the moment, clearly shining its rays.

Manta shaded his eyes with his hands, trying to glance up at the sun. He stared at the sky for quite a while before sighing. He then bent down and picked up the can he had kicked, responsibly deposing it in a nearby trashcan.

* * *

After exiting the store, Hoshi spent a lot of his time going through the tour book again. He walked along the sidewalk with most of his attention fixed on the tour book, though he still managed not to run into people. A few of the mentioned places caught his attention, but he wasn't sure which place would suit his needs the best. He finally settled on going to Shibuya. It was entirely a random pick.

So, decision made, Hoshi resolutely shut the tour book. To get to Shibuya, he needed to take the subway and get off at the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station.

It didn't take him long to walk to the nearest station, but once there, he had to stand in front of the map for quite a while to study which exact line would take him to Shibuya. He impatiently traced the different routes with his eyes.

"Going on a tour?" asked a sudden voice to his right. Hoshi was surprised that someone was speaking to him. There were tons of people milling about in the station, but none of them had approached Hoshi to talk to him before now. Since there were so many people in the station, Hoshi almost wanted to just stay and observe the people here, but he had decided to go to Shibuya, and with his decision made, he was going to go there regardless.

Hoshi glanced at the young man next to him. He was neatly dressed in a white, pressed, button-up shirt and a pair of deep blue pants. A very friendly smile was present on his face. Hoshi had to wonder whether that smile was genuine or not, for why would someone act so friendly to a complete stranger?

Hoshi willed his mind to open a bit to the young man, hoping that some thoughts would trickle in.

_He has that tour book in his hands, so he is most likely not familiar with Tokyo._

Hoshi glanced at the tour book he held, which he then stuffed down his bag. "I'm going to Shibuya," replied Hoshi as he turned his attention back to the map.

_There goes that tour book. Well, Shibuya. A wondrous place perfect for shopping. Not to mention that it was the location of the 1964 Olympics. What a coincidence. I was going there myself._

"Are you looking for which train to take? If so, I can show you which one to take, since I'm going there too," said the young man, his slight smile still present.

_I wonder why this boy is going there by himself. Most people go there either with their family or their friends._

Hoshi looked away from the map. "Really? That would be nice of you." Inwardly, Hoshi answered the young man's thoughts.

He wasn't going with his family or his friends because he didn't deserve any. He blinked at his own thoughts. He didn't deserve any family or friends? Then what was he doing going on this trip to decide other people's worth?

He brushed off his own thoughts as he bought a ticket for himself. He slid the ticket into the slot and the door opened for him to pass through. He followed the young man to the train and into the same compartment. He then found a seat for himself.

* * *

Horo Horo stood in front of the stoplights, watching the light change from green, to yellow, and then to red. A group of people gathered in front of the light, waiting to cross the street. He watched the light turn green again. The people crossed the street to the other side. The people on the other side crossed over to this side. And the cycle repeated over and over again.

Horo Horo sighed.

This was so boring.

There wasn't even a trace of Hao or Hoshi or whatever that guy was called now. He jumped from one foot to the other, his feet getting tired from standing still for so long. The people who passed by whispered among themselves, wondering what the spiky, blue haired boy was doing.

* * *

The ride was kind of boring as Hoshi watched people get on and get off. Apparently, the young man next to him wasn't very talkative. Hoshi didn't want to start a conversation either. He was fine with the silence.

However, after awhile, Hoshi noticed the absence of the young man's thoughts. Hoshi focused on the man's mind, and to his surprise, he didn't hear anything.

Hoshi glanced at the young man, who had his eyes closed. He could tell that the young man wasn't sleeping though.

"What are you doing?" asked Hoshi curiously.

The young man opened his eyes and glanced at Hoshi. "Just emptying my mind."

"Why?"

The young man smiled. "Well, I have to present a calm appearance during my job. I find emptying my mind very helpful."

Hoshi nodded as he turned his attention away from the young man. It had been a surprise to him that he couldn't hear the young man's thoughts. He had thought that his power might have somehow been sealed up again, but it turned out that the young man had unintentionally maneuvered around Hoshi's power.

The compartment was crowded. The station had been crowded enough, but it was even more crowded in here. When the train stopped again, a few people got off while a lot more got on. A pregnant lady with dark auburn hair managed to secure a ring for herself to hold on to.

The young man sitting next to Hoshi immediately noticed her presence. Hoshi watched as the young man stood up and offered his seat to the lady. She smiled gratefully and sat down. He took the vacant ring that the lady had been holding on to.

_What a courteous boy. If only my husband showed as much consideration as him! Geez, he could have driven me instead of making me take the train. It's not like he's going to work anytime soon. _The lady put her bag next to her feet as she complained inwardly.

Hoshi took in what had happened without a word.

* * *

Ren rested against the tree, his arms placed behind his head. The tree's outstretched, leafy branches filtered the sunlight, letting only a few rays pass through. He slowly observed the peaceful scene in front of him.

Millions of tombstones rested in the grassy, rolling hills of the graveyard. Flowers of different varieties decorated the graves--a spot of red here, a spot of white there, and so forth. The purple haired boy's eyes followed a few of the visitors, watching them place their bouquet of flowers in front of their loved ones' graves.

The gentle wind blew through the tall grasses, swirling around the graves protectively.

Ren closed his golden eyes and opened them slowly.

It was so peaceful here.

It was just like any normal day.

There was no sign of him here.

* * *

Suddenly, a young girl's scream sounded throughout the compartment.

"Ah!! Pervert!"

Hoshi glanced in the direction of the voice. The owner of the voice was a high school girl wearing a sailor uniform. She hugged her book bag close to herself, her eyes darting around nervously.

_Who touched me? Is it that guy over there? Or could it be that old geezer over there? _

Hoshi tentatively opened his mind a bit more, hoping that his power was still intact. He was relieved when the images didn't come. Only the thoughts of the people around him poured in.

_Impudent girl. She deserved that! Just look at how short her skirt is. She had that coming!_

_Oh, I pity her. Who was that horrible pervert who dared to touch a young, innocent girl like her? In front of everybody, no less! That guy must be out of his mind._

_Her skirt feels so soft.. I'd like to touch it again._

There. That was the perpetrator. Hoshi focused on the last thought, trying to figure out whose thought that was.

He glanced at the numerous faces around him, unable to tell the different people apart. His hands tightened around his bag. He had heard the perpetrator's thoughts, but finding him among this crowd was difficult. Wasn't there anything else he could do? He felt useless.

_Now, all I have to do is get off at the next station as if nothing had happened. But where's my coat?_

Hoshi quickly glanced around, easily locating a brown cloak lying on the ground. He got up and picked it up.

"Whose coat is this?" asked Hoshi as he held it up into the air.

A man with short, dark hair pushed through the crowd. Hoshi's eyes swept over him, taking in the neat business attire. "Ah, that would be mine. Thank you for picking it up for me-" He reached out to take his coat from Hoshi; however, Hoshi retracted his hands.

"I'm afraid I can't give this back to you," said Hoshi with a smirk.

The dark haired man's eyes darkened. "What are you, a robber?"

Hoshi shook his head. "No, I'm not a robber. But I know what you are." Hoshi's eyes were full of challenge.

The man's eyes widened before he regained his calm. His palms were sweating though. "I don't understand what you mean. Now just be a good boy and give me back my coat."

_Damn, did this boy see what I did or something? I didn't think anyone would notice! I've done this five times already after all, and I haven't been caught yet!_

Hoshi shook his head. "No way. I was considering asking you to apologize to the girl, but now I think it'd be better if I turn you into the police."

The man fumed. "You think I was the one who touched her? You're ruining my name! I would never do such a thing!"

Hoshi rolled his eyes. "Don't you know when to back down and apologize? You've been caught. You have no way out of this. And I know you're the perpetrator-" Hoshi glared at the man, "-and that you've done this five times already!"

The man's mouth dropped. "How..." The dark-haired man had entirely lost the battle.

Seeing that Hoshi had won the verbal battle, the train's specialized security guards came by soon after to take the dark-haired man to the police station at the next stop. The high school girl bowed quickly to thank Hoshi, a slight blush appearing on her face.

* * *

Yoh entered the convenience store, the tiny bells above the door jingling to welcome him. This time, he didn't head towards the racks of CDs, though they were very inviting. Instead, he headed towards the store clerk, hoping that he'd be able to tell him something.

"Um...er...tenin-san, has a boy who looks a lot like me come into this store recently?" asked Yoh hesitantly. He then added, "He has longer hair though."

Cutter muttered, "You bet he came in! What's wrong with you two? Do you like to confuse people or what? Anyway, he came in to buy a tour book of Japan, but he started kneeling on the floor when he was about to pay. Dunno what was wrong with him, but he left very quickly after that."

Yoh's heart beat faster. "Really? Do you know where he went after that?"

Cutter shook his head.

Yoh's hopes sank. Everyone forgiving Hoshi was one thing. Finding Hoshi and making him believe them was an entirely different matter altogether.

"Thanks anyway."

* * *

The young man who had accompanied Hoshi at the beginning of the trip approached him.

"How did you know that he was the one?" asked the young man curiously.

Hoshi shrugged. "Good observation skills and good guessing, most likely."

_That can't be all that's to it, but I guess I can't probe any further._

"Well, we're here at the Shibuya Station now. I'll part ways with you here." The young man waved good-bye.

Hoshi watched the young man leave. He turned to go in the opposite direction; however, the young man's last thoughts still reached him.

_That boy would make a great detective._

Hoshi laughed. Him? A detective? How could he ever be a detective when he was the kind of person detectives went against? He smirked as he headed out of the crowded Shibuya station and into Shibuya, home to one of the largest shopping and entertainment districts, the 1964 Olympic Gymnasium, and the NHK Broadcasting plaza.


	28. In Shibuya

Hoshi raised his free hand to shade his eyes. Once Hoshi had exited the station, he found himself standing at the outskirts of one of the busiest shopping districts ever. His eyes followed the never-ending lines of buildings, the colorful billboards, and the flashing, advertising flat screens. One of the screens was showing a video of a popular singer. The buildings ran along both sides of the streets, with millions of people pouring in and out of the buildings. His eyes swept over the people walking along the sidewalks and in the streets, amazed at the sheer amount of people. Where had all these people come from? How could these people withstand being pushed and shoved in that horrendous crowd? Didn't these people have anything better to do than mill about in Shibuya?

He tugged on his bag. He was hesitant to approach the globs of humans, for fear that an overflow of their inner thoughts would drive him crazy. But he had been fine in the station, so the crowd in Shibuya shouldn't be too much of a problem. He was here in Shibuya already. There was no sense in just standing here, pondering his time away. He might as well plunge into the crowd.

As Hoshi squeezed his way through the crowd, the thought that Shibuya wasn't a good choice for observing humans crossed his mind. As he glanced about, he noticed that most of the people walking about were teenagers. He wanted to observe humans. Not just teenagers. He probably should have just stayed at the station or gone somewhere else instead.

_Darn, school's starting in a few more days and I haven't finished my summer homework yet! I definitely have to call someone so that I can copy their homework, or else I'll never finish in time._

Tsk. That thought certainly belonged to a lazy, irresponsible person. As Hoshi continued into the crowd, the people's thoughts became more lucid with closer proximity.

_I wanted to go swimming, but she wanted to go shopping instead. I wonder why I can't ever refuse her demands!_

_His birthday is coming up. I want to find a special present for him. I should be able to find something he likes in Shibuya, since Shibuya is the ultimate trendsetter. _

Hoshi paid attention to the first few thoughts that drifted to him, but after a few, he sort of lost interest in them. They were so...ordinary.

_Hey, that guy over there is pretty cute. I wonder if he has a girlfriend?_

_I want to buy some new perfume. I think I'll go over to Shibuya 109 and shop around there. They have everything there! It's a shopper's heaven._

Hoshi felt like sighing. This was pointless.

Still, he glanced forward, noticing a tall, rounded building that had the large words "Shibuya 109" across it. His spirit Hoshisuke floated in front of him, peering at the tall building curiously. The tiny form of his spirit was almost lost among the crowd.

Apparently, the building was a large collection of fashion stores, variety shops, and restaurants. He wasn't here to go shopping though. What he really needed right now was a place to stay for the time being. Shibuya was full of buildings and people. It was bare of nice, sturdy trees where he might have been able to sleep.

Another stray thought slipped through his barrier.

_Lots of teenagers here, perfect time for me to hunt my next soon-to-be idol!_

"Hello there, are you here alone?"

Hoshi looked away from Shibuya 109 as a tall, eager man addressed him. Did that last stray thought belong to this man? Was this man hunting for an idol? Hoshi laughed inwardly. Outwardly, he gave a slight nod.

"Well, that's rare. Have you been here before?" asked the man. Hoshi felt like rolling his eyes. People should just get to the point and stop dancing around what they really intended to say. Hoshi shook his head and began walking a bit quicker, hoping that the man would get the point and stop bothering him.

_I guess he's not interested in what I have to say. But, I can't let him just walk away! Have to make the suggestion at least._

"Wait, I want to ask you something. Would you like to be an idol?" asked the man hurriedly.

Hoshi kept walking without stopping. "Me? An idol?"

Absurd.

_Yes, you! You'd make a great idol. I bet tons of people would fall for you._

"Of course I'm talking about you!" The man replied with a smile meant to reassure.

Hoshi stopped walking and turned around with a wide smile. The man's hope rose at the sight, but they were instantly crushed with Hoshi's next word.

"No."

* * *

Hoshi glanced at the business card in his hand. The man had tried to persuade him to consider becoming an idol and had even given Hoshi a card in case Hoshi changed his mind. He noticed that the man worked at the NHK Studio Park, which was near where he was right now. No wonder the man was trying to recruit people around Shibuya. Still, Hoshi wasn't interested in becoming an idol. It was a waste of time. He crumbled up the card and tossed it over his shoulder into the nearest trash can. Now, where was he going to find a place to stay?

_The Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel should be just around the corner. I think it's the tallest building in Shibuya, so I definitely can't miss it. Lugging this huge suitcase around is quite inconvenient. I have to find my hotel soon._

Hoshi smirked. Hearing other people's thoughts was actually quite convenient at times, especially when they just happened to think about something that he wanted to know.

He scanned for the tallest building in the area, assuming that it was the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel. Upon seeing the tall building, Hoshi began heading towards it.

* * *

Hoshi glumly glanced at his wallet, or Manta's wallet actually. He hadn't expected renting one hotel room to be this expensive. At this rate, he was going to run out of money soon. He didn't plan to use any of Manta's credit cards either, for they'd be able to trace him through that. He needed to be more careful about his spending from now on. Either that, or he needed to find a job. He scowled at that thought. He felt perfectly at home sleeping in the trees, but Shibuya was practically treeless. He did notice the beautiful Japanese garden that was part of this hotel, but the trees inside were so miniature. It would have been silly if he had tried to sleep in the garden, for people would notice his presence there.

He took the elevator to his "stylish" room, as advertised. Setting his bag down on the bed, Hoshi approached the windows. He brushed aside the drapes and peered through the glass, watching the tiny, moving dots that represented the people he had just walked among. Shibuya was just so mind-boggling. So many people came here, some to shop, some to socialize, and some for no purpose at all. Hoshi had to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that Shibuya did have its charm. If humans were born as boring creatures, they certainly knew how to make life more interesting...at the expense of destroying Nature. The tall gatherings of shops and the different entertainment sections in Shibuya clearly demonstrated the creativity of human beings.

They knew how to entertain.

Hoshi's let the curtains fall as he turned his attention back to his room. Even this hotel was solid proof that humans lived to innovate and to entertain. His room was lavishly furnished to encourage him to stay there for the night.

He hated the room though. It felt more like a lavish prison than the stylish room it was supposed to be. Not too mention it was so expensive.

He sighed as he grabbed the now lighter wallet and made for the door.

Time for dinner.

* * *

He held the restaurant's menu in front of him, his eyes scanning over the different items. A waitress had laid out the plates and silverware in front of him and left to bring back a pitcher of water, all the while muttering under her voice.

Hoshi hadn't noticed the coming and going of the waitress as his head swam with all the bizarre names of the dishes. He had never gone to a restaurant with Sora and Tsuki since they had lived pretty far from the closest restaurant.

He glanced to the side of the menu, taking note of the orange-checkered tablecloths and the wooden chairs. The restaurant was small and simple, and orange seemed to be the color theme of the restaurant. Little orange flowers decorated the vases and the walls. Hoshi glanced back at the menu.

"Are you ready to order yet?" demanded the waitress, who had returned with the pitcher of water.

Hoshi's menu blocked all view of the waitress, so he was saved from seeing the waitress's annoyed expression. He only saw a glimpse of the waitress's black outfit and gloved hands as she poured the water.

Hoshi lowered the menu, about to order whatever.

The girl lowered the pitcher, about to set it down.

"Finally, I've waited long en-"

Her eyes widened as they locked on with Hoshi's. The pitcher slipped out of her hands, shattering on the floor. Tiny shards of glass scattered over the floor as the water seeped into the floorboards. She didn't notice any of that as she stepped closer to the table.

"H-Hao-sama?" asked the girl tentatively. Her words seemed to indicate her disbelief that he was truly sitting right before her eyes, yet inwardly she already knew that it was true and was rejoicing.

_It's Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama Hao-sama!!_

Hoshi placed the menu on the table, wincing at the girl's loud, enthusiastic thoughts. He appeared calm, though right before his eyes was one of the girls from his dream, someone from his past, someone he never thought he'd meet, someone he wasn't sure even existed until now.

And she was standing right there.


	29. Forgotten Companions

_Crunch._

Hoshi dimly registered the crunching noises that the girl's shoes made with the glass shards.

_Crunch. Crunch._

"Hao-sama?" repeated the girl after her initial joy subsided. She was still ecstatic, but that ecstasy was fading since he wasn't responding at all. He hadn't even said a word to her, not to mention answer her question!

_It's just a simple, one word question. All he has to say is "yes!" and I'd be free to jump all over the place right now...oops. I shouldn't be thinking this. He'll hear what I'm saying. I'm so rude._

Hoshi blinked at the orange-haired girl's thoughts. She knew that he could hear her thoughts. The image of the orange-haired girl standing beside two other girls flashed across Hoshi's mind.

When he first saw them in his dream, he was sure that they had been his followers. But he hadn't known if these so called followers were his...friends or not.

This girl, however, was clearly happy in seeing him. And she seemed to know him better than Manta and Ren. It made him reluctant to speak.

"I..." began Hoshi.

The girl looked eager and nervous at the same time. She bit the bottom of her lips and tugged on her gloves unconsciously. One of her black straps slipped off her shoulders. She didn't seem bothered by that since she was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt underneath.

Why was he noticing things like these? Was it because he felt guilty about what he was going to say? He had a feeling that guilt had been foreign to him before, but ever since living with Sora and Tsuki, he seemed to be feeling guilty at every corner.

"I don't know you."

The words were out.

The girl's eyes widened. She blinked quickly, willing the sudden moistness to go away.

_I don't cry. I don't cry. I'm not like Mari. I don't cry! Not that much, at least._

Hoshi's words had been blunt. A bit too blunt. He could have listened to the girl's thoughts and played along as if he knew her, but that would have been just as cruel...maybe even more...since he would be raising false hope.

"Hao-sama has forgotten me?" asked the girl shakily.

_Are you angry that I didn't find you sooner?_

"I am not your Hao-sama."

The girl laughed at the absurdity of his statement. "Not Hao-sama? Then are you Yoh-sama? I didn't know that Yoh-sama had such long hair." She glanced at Hoshi's appearance, her heart quickening as she took in Hoshi's very ordinary t-shirt, patched jeans, and finally his earring-less ears.

_Your earrings! Your cloak! Your boots and gloves...where has the Hao-sama I know gone? You feel so different. Even your attitude is different._

Hoshi picked up the menu once again as he played with one strand of his hair. "As I said, I am not your Hao-sama. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not Yoh either." Hoshi smiled, causing the girl's heart to flutter. She remembered those smiles of his, those smiles that radiated benevolence yet hid an undermining streak of danger. He was Hao-sama. Why was he denying it?

"Since I couldn't remember anything, I started calling myself Hoshi."

The girl, if she had another pitcher in her hand, would have dropped it again and shattered it even worse than the one before.

"HAO-SAMA, YOU LOST YOUR MEMORIES?" she almost shrieked. Okay, she did shriek. But she had a right to. It wasn't everyday that she met her former master who she thought had died who then said he didn't know her and that he wasn't her former master and that he didn't remember anything.

"Yeah." Hoshi reached out to steady his glass of water, which had been trembling due to the vibrations caused by the girl's voice. He cautiously looked towards her, wondering what she was going to do next.

He watched amusedly as the girl smoothed out her black outfit, tugged on her gloves, fixed her straps, rubbed her eyes, and retied her two, short ponytails.

"Well, I guess that explains everything...I kind of feel better that the reason you don't know me isn't because you don't want to remember me anymore."

_Or does he really not want to remember?_

She finished fixing her hair and smiled widely.

"Let me reintroduce myself then. I'm Matilda Matisse. Macchi for short."

* * *

The next hour found the two sitting at the far table of the quiet restaurant. Macchi had whipped out her broom and quickly swept away the glass shards, all the while complaining that her poor broom wasn't made for sweeping. She then laid her broom on the chair next to her sat down with a flourish.

Macchi glanced at the menu, not bothering to pick it up. "So, Hao-sa"

"Hoshi," he interrupted, "Call me Hoshi."

Until he regained his memories, he was Hoshi. A little part of his mind nagged at him. Even if he regained his memories, he still wanted to be called Hoshi. It was his small attempt at holding on to the memories of living with Sora and Tsuki.

"Ho-Hoshi-sama..." Macchi stumbled over the two-syllable name. It wasn't as if the word "hoshi" was foreign to her. She heard it quite often, since the stars were a part of her everyday life. She, along with the rest of Hao-sama's followers, watched the night sky quite often. After all, Hao-sama went star-gazing a lot. It was normal for them to follow his lead.

_It's just that it's so weird...thinking of Hao-sama as Hoshi-sama. Well, the beginnings of the two names aren't that different. Both are h's_._ But still...Hoshi-sama..._

"You can drop the –sama," said Hoshi suddenly.

Macchi blinked. "Eh?? Drop the –sama?" She waved her hands quickly. "No, I can't do that Ha-Hoshi-sama!"

_That would be even worse! It would feel as if I weren't talking to Hao-sama anymore._

Hoshi shrugged and turned his attention back to the menu. He still hadn't placed an order, since Macchi's reentrance into his life had caused quite a commotion.

"Hoshi-sama, let's order this!"

She leaned over from her side of the table and pulled Hoshi's menu down so that the items on the menu were visible to both. She then pointed at one section of the menu.

Hoshi looked at the small, scrawny section title. He slowly read out loud, "Ka-bo-cha." He looked up at her with one eyebrow raised. "Kabocha?" An image of the round, green vegetable appeared in his mind. He pictured Macchi trying to swallow the small pumpkin whole. Was kabocha even edible?

Macchi nodded enthusiastically.

_My faaaavorite! That's why I work here. I was lured by the sweet smell of none other than KABOCHA! It's this restaurant's specialty, after all._

Macchi placed her hand on her face, her eyes dreamy, her mouth almost watering at the thought of her favorite dish.

Hoshi sweatdropped. The girl really seemed to like kabocha, the Japanese pumpkin. Well, ordering her a kabocha dish couldn't hurt...after all, kabocha dishes couldn't be that bad-tasting, right?

"Sure, let's order it."

* * *

He regretted letting Macchi order. Kabocha, as he thought, wasn't bad-tasting. But eating millions of the sweet kabocha dishes disturbed his stomach greatly. He didn't think that she would be capable of ordering so many...dishes with kabocha. He didn't even know that there were that many different kabocha dishes!

His eyes widened when the waiter brought the sixth kabocha dish to the table.

"Here's your dish, Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup with Pancetta and Sage."

_Kyaa! It's the famous Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup with Pancetta and Sage! This has got to be the best dish ever!_

Hoshi watched the dish as it was placed on their table. Macchi smiled happily, gobbling down more kabocha and reaching out to spoon herself some soup.

This was the sixth kabocha dish and the second soup that Macchi had ordered.

How many more were there?

How much more could she eat?

Hoshi glanced to the left. Kabocha salad. Kabocha Sun-Dried Tomato Soup. He glanced to the right. Simmered Sweet Kabocha. Tempura Kabocha. Sweet Kabocha Squash with Soya Sauce.

Apparently, they had ordered more.

"Here's your next dish, Kabocha cornbread."

_Kabocha cornbread! Cornbread! With kabocha!_

At these times, Hoshi wished he wasn't able to hear her thoughts. The waiter placed the dish on the table and turned around to leave.

Hoshi reached out to grab the waiter's shirt, his eyes still glued to the kabocha dishes in front of him.

"Tell me there's no more."

"Um...I can't do that. There are still...five more," said the waiter hesitantly.

_Wow...I knew that Matilda-san liked kabocha, but she ordered so many kabocha dishes! I wonder who's paying? Even with her employee discount, it's going to be an ugly number._

Hoshi released his hold on the waiter's shirt, resigned to his fate of eating kabocha until he became sick and to the fact that he was probably going to be the one paying. The waiter quickly shuffled back to kitchen.

Macchi paused in her eating, her spoon lifted halfway between her bowl and her mouth. "Hoshi-sama, aren't you eating anymore?"

He glanced at happy, orange and green kabocha dishes in front of him. He smiled falteringly. "No...I'm fine."

She shrugged.

_More for me then!_

She quickly polished off every single dish. Once she discovered that Hoshi wasn't going to eat anymore, she stopped using her own plate altogether. Instead, she grabbed the individual kabocha dishes and fed herself straight off the dish.

Macchi sighed happily as she stacked the last plate on top of the pile.

"I'm done!"

Hoshi sighed as well, though quite unhappily. He pulled out Manta's wallet. Well, there went the last of Manta's money.

* * *

Macchi waved goodbye to the other waiters and waitresses of the store. "Thanks for taking my shift!" She grinned as she leaped out of the door to stand under the night sky.

She squinted her eye and pointed her broom at a twinkling star.

"Hey, Hoshi-sama, thanks for the meal. I haven't had such a feast for quite some time."

_I've always wanted to try out all those dishes...but somehow I never had enough money! I wonder where all the money I earned went?_

To eating, no doubt. She probably had a pumpkin feast every time she received her pay.

Hoshi didn't reply as he gazed at the dim stars. The lights of Shibuya were so bright that they illuminated the night sky and made the stars hard to see. Nevertheless, just knowing that the stars were there was a soothing thought.

Macchi lowered her arm as she spun around, her orange hair bobbing around with her.

"Would you like to meet up with everyone else?"

She gazed at him with bright eyes.

_Everyone's waiting for you._


	30. End of Summer

Sora breathed heavily by the time she rested her hands on the bark of the tree for support. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. The sun had already set and Hoshi was nowhere to be seen.

Unwilling to give up the hope that he might still be near, she let her eyes wander around the area one last time.

Tall, towering trees. Branches that scattered the moonlight. Dark shadows. Drifting leaves.

No sign of Hoshi. Not even one sign of human life.

Crestfallen, Sora dragged herself home to her lone son. Hopefully, Yoh-san and the others were more successful in their search. Inwardly, she knew that they hadn't found him, for if they had, they surely would have contacted her by now.

When Sora opened the door to her house, a bundle immediately jumped into her arms and wrapped his arms around her.

"'kaachan!"

Sora smiled apologetically at the little boy who held onto her with a death grip. In her wild frenzy to find Hoshi to bring him back, she had left her confused son all alone at home. Feeling the tight grip he held on her, she realized that she had been a blundering mother for neglecting her own child. What must Tsuki feel with Hoshi's disappearance and her absence from the house?

"I'm sorry, Tsuki," she murmured quietly.

Tsuki shook his head, unable to speak, letting his mother's warm embrace soothe his fears.

Sora hugged her son close to her. After feeling her son's grip loosen a bit, Sora tentatively said, "We're going to go visit Yoh-san and the others right now. So, go change and come back here, okay?"

Tsuki nodded, reluctantly letting go of his mother to go to his room.

* * *

It had been a long, unrewarding day. Manta had stood on the bridge, watching the dark waters by himself. He had walked along the empty corridors of his cram school with not a person in sight. After all, summer vacation was ending. Cram school had been over for the day and the students had gone home to prepare for the continuation of the school year. Manta learned, once he returned to Funbari Onsens, that the others shared experiences similar to his. Horo Horo had stood in the streets, watching the light turn red and then turn green, until the people in the streets had emptied out and gone home. Ren had watched a few people visit the graveyard, bringing flowers and the like, until it became dark and the visitors dwindled.

None of them had any luck.

Anna, of course, didn't have any luck either. She had been busy tending to the inn. Since Hoshi didn't stop by the inn and her customers didn't seem to know him, she heard nothing about him.

Manta had a feeling that if Hoshi didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. So, he was surprised when he discovered that Yoh-kun had more luck than any of them, since he did learn something about Hoshi from the store clerk.

Hoshi had bought a tour book.

"A tour book?" asked Ren disbelievingly, voicing everyone's doubt in the open. He was in the process of poking his food due to the fact that their dinner was a courtesy of none other than Anna, who had silently fumed before dinner at having to do all of the tasks around the inn by herself. They could see her twitching with fury. The only reason that she hadn't slapped anyone yet was probably due to the fact that she had been the one who said that she'd look after the inn and she had let all of them go on their searches...so she couldn't place the blame on anyone other than herself. Still, Ren was entitled to be a bit distrusting of his food. Who knew whether the icy-hot tempered girl had finally cracked and poisoned their food so that she could smirk at them when they all turned purple in the face and withered away and died? But the fact that it was rice that was in his bowl consoled him somewhat, for he always had rice at home. Rice couldn't be that damaging, not even when it was poisoned.

Anyway...let's stay away from the interesting musings in the purple-haired boy's head and return to the discussion at hand.

Yoh-kun nodded. "Yeah, a tour book. Of Japan."

A tour book of Japan. That was...very vague, thought Manta. Even though Japan wasn't as big as some other countries such as China or the United States, it was still large enough to hinder them when they wanted to find someone who didn't want to be found. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack or trying to fish that same, minuscule needle out of a body of water that stretched as far as the eye could see.

But still, knowing that Hoshi had bought a tour book was a start, right? A small lead to Hoshi's whereabouts. But why did Hoshi, of all the amnesic, used-to-be baddies in the world, buy a tour book? Was he going to read it and then go on a tour of Japan?

Manta shook his head, amused at the image of Hao riding on the hand of the Spirit of Fire and visiting the temples and shrines around Japan. Of course, it wouldn't be Hao and the Spirit of Fire who went around terrorizing the monks since neither Hao nor the Spirit of Fire still existed. Rather a boy who called himself Hoshi and his loyal cat spirit would be making the rounds. Now that Manta thought about it, maybe Hoshi was doing just that. Visiting places with his spirit. It was somewhat plausible.

Manta felt an odd trust when he thought about Hoshi, even though he still couldn't bring himself to fully trust Hao. They were the same person, yet to Manta, they were worlds apart. For one, Manta couldn't imagine Hao being a person who liked to travel, though Hao must have traveled a lot to gather so many followers.

Manta's musings were entirely correct.

* * *

"Hey, hear that? Someone's at the door," mumbled Horo Horo, his mouth full of food.

"That should be Sora-obasan and Tsuki-chan," guessed Manta. They had all decided to regroup tonight at Funbari Onsens to discuss their findings, so it was a given that Sora would come. "I'll go welcome her in." Manta placed his chopsticks next to his bowl and slid himself off his chair. He went out of their little dining area to go to the front of the inn.

The rest of them continued eating their meal as peacefully as they could. Ren, after observing that Horo Horo hadn't turned purple with the food he consumed, deemed the food safe and began eating. While his two friends ate and his fiancée continued to fume, Yoh began wondering how Sora would react to their lack of success.

Yoh picked the individual rice out of his bowl with his chopsticks. He had already gotten to the bottom of his bowl and the rice was getting hard to pick up. He prided himself for being able to pick up even the tiniest things with a pair of chopsticks. He was still trying to pick his bowl clean when Manta walked back into the room. The room quickly became silent, though Yoh didn't notice. He continued picking the rice one by one.

After a long silence, Yoh finally tore his eyes away from his bowl. He had to look at Sora and talk to her at some point after all. It wouldn't do him any good to avoid her gaze, so he tried looking up at his aunt who he hadn't known existed until recently.

It wasn't his aunt who he saw though.

He blinked.

The five standing at the doorway certainly weren't his aunt and his little cousin.

More family.

When had he invited them over?

"I called them," came the cutting voice to his right. Yoh didn't have to glance over to know that it was Anna who had spoken. Well, that made a lot of sense, yet it didn't at the same time. Why had Anna called them over? They weren't needed. Not yet anyway, not until they were able to sort out everything on their own.

But at least that explained things. Yoh's lazy smile finally emerged as he greeted his grandparents, his parents, and the blushing pink haired girl hiding behind his father.

The size of their meeting had just doubled.


	31. Family Reunion

Yoh's smile broke the tension in the air.

Ren, who had stopped eating to wait for Yoh's reaction, brought his chopsticks to his mouth, though his attention was now focused on the five in the doorway and not on his food. Horo Horo, stunned at the sudden appearance of Yoh's family, quickly hid half of his blushing face with his bowl. His chopsticks clattered against his bowl as he pushed the rice into his mouth.

Manta trailed behind the pink-haired girl.

_Click._

The door shut behind him as he glanced around nervously before climbing back into his seat.

They had all seen Yohmei, Kino, Mikihisa, and Tamao before, but who was that lady with long black hair standing next to Mikihisa? If they looked really hard, they could see the resemblance between her, Yoh, and Hao. If they really, really thought about it, she actually looked like an older, female version of Hao. She even reminded them of Sora a bit.

They quickly made the connection in their mind.

This could be no one other than the twins' mother.

Horo Horo's mind was immediately filled with thoughts about how lucky Yoh was to have such a pretty mother.

Ren, on the other hand, was wondering what in the world was drastic enough to invite Yoh's mother into the picture. He had crossed fire with Yoh's father plenty of times, yet he had never laid eyes on his mother before today. One would think that she didn't even exist.

Dinner resumed, now with five more people. Anna's pointed look made Yoh quickly head to the kitchen to bring out more bowls and chopsticks for the newcomers.

As Yoh left for the kitchen, the pink-haired girl named Tamao timidly spoke up. "Anna-sama, I asked Yohmei-ojiisama, Kino-obaasama, Mikihisa-ojisama, and Keiko-obasama to come as you requested."

Anna nodded slightly, letting Tamao know that she had heard her. When Yoh came back into the room juggling five extra sets of bowls and chopsticks, the pink-haired girl quickly averted her gaze to stare at the ground.

"Where is she?" asked Yohmei. Yoh's short grandfather had his arms crossed, his expression serious. Yoh's grandmother Kino stood by Yohmei's side, silent but equally inquisitive.

"Not here yet. But she will be here soon," replied Anna.

"My sister...I haven't seen her since she left for America," murmured Yoh's mother Keiko quietly.

The three of them, Manta, Ren, and Horo Horo, finally understood that this was going to be one huge family reunion. Manta quickly counted the number of Asakuras in the room at the moment. Five. If he counted Anna, who was Yoh's fiancée, and Tamao, who was Yohmei's student, as part of the Asakura family, that would make seven. After Sora and Tsuki's arrival, that would make nine. It was going to be one huge awkward situation for them.

They were outsiders, after all, outnumbered nine to three. If Hoshi had been there as well, they would have been even more outnumbered.

* * *

After an extended period of lost contact, how do conversations start again? What could the first words exchanged upon reunion possibly be?

Sora wasn't even thinking about the possibility of meeting her parents, her sister, and her brother-in-law at the moment though. She was bringing Tsuki along to dinner because she wanted news of Hoshi. She wasn't going there to confront her parents.

However, when Manta opened the door for them, she had a sudden feeling that she should turn around and head back to her rented house. Something wasn't quite right. The short boy smiled nervously at her, causing Sora to clutch Tsuki's hand a tighter.

"Yoh-kun has already brought out extra bowls for you," said Manta as he stepped to the side to let Sora and Tsuki enter. "They've been expecting you."

They? Did "they" refer to her nephew and his friends?

The short boy closed the door behind her, letting her take the lead. She could feel his eyes on her as she headed towards the dining room.

When she was finally standing in front of the doorway leading to the kitchen, she paused. Her feet felt like they were rooted into the ground. She could still feel Oyamada Manta's gaze on her, as if willing her to go in. It only made her more nervous.

Tsuki glanced up at his mother, curious about the sudden stop.

"Aren't we going in?" asked Tsuki.

"I..." Sora stopped. Why couldn't she make her feet move? She had no explanation. Was there any reason to fear going in and having dinner with her nephew? What was she afraid of? What was there to be afraid of?

Tsuki frowned, tugging his hand out of his mother's grasp.

"Wait!" Sora reached her hand out to reclaim his small hands, but he deftly avoided her attempts and stepped into the room.

Sora helplessly watched his disappearing form. She couldn't make herself follow him. Manta looked at her, giving her a nod for encouragement before he followed Tsuki into the room.

Through the door, Tsuki's voice drifted to her ears.

"Eh? Yoh-san's entire family's here!"

Sora's eyes widened. She almost fell as her feet suddenly moved, bringing her straight through the doorway. One hand held on to the side of the door, trying to hold herself upright.

All eleven pairs of eyes landed on her.

Her eyes darted around nervously as they swept over the people sitting at the table.

The boy with spiky, sky-blue hair and a towel around his forehead sat at the left. Next to him sat the boy with golden eyes and purple hair with one, stiff spike in the middle. The girl wearing a red bandana and a bead necklace was sitting next to Yoh. A pink-haired girl who was scuffling her feet sat at the right. The girl wore a simple white shirt and had a heart-shaped bag hanging from her shoulders to rest against her hips. Sora hadn't ever met the girl before, so she couldn't place a name with her appearance.

Manta and Tsuki stood at the end of the table. Why hadn't they sat down yet? Tsuki's head was turned to the side. He was observing...

A man wearing shorts, sneakers, and a raggedy shirt. He had on a funny mask with a beak. His black hair was pulled into a ponytail. Was she supposed to know who he was? He seemed sort of familiar, but she didn't think she knew anyone who was eccentric enough to wear a bird mask all the time.

When her eyes roamed to the person standing next to him, she gulped.

There stood a woman with midnight black hair past her waist. She was wearing a blouse and a long, beige skirt.

It was her sister.

Sora's eyes couldn't widen any further.

She willed her eyes to go to the next person.

An old woman with black shades and white hair pulled into a bun. Her mother.

Her eyes darted to the right.

And last but not least, her father. The top of his head was shiny. Even though he still had some hair on the back of his head, it was entirely white.

After not speaking to her family for seventeen years, this wasn't how she had planned on confronting them again. She wanted time to prepare herself, to think through what she should say and how she should act. This meeting was too sudden. She wanted to be the one who approached them, not the other way around. She wanted to have the upper hand. She had even hoped that Hoshi would be by her side at that time of confrontation, but he wasn't here anymore. Besides, would her parents even accept him?

Standing there made her feel like a child all over again.

It was Asakura Keiko who spoke first.

"Aneki."

And so the onslaught of questions and accusations began.

* * *

Faced with what promised to be a long, heated family reunion, the three boys slipped out of the room, unnoticed by those of the Asakura family. Manta closed the door behind him, though he could still hear the voices drift through. He strained his ears to catch the conversations going on in the other room.

"You're 'kaachan's younger sister?" exclaimed Tsuki.

"Yes," came the quiet reply from Asakura Keiko.

Yohmei's statement was sharp and sudden. "You never told him?"

Sora sounded offended. "You disowned me...I can't really tell him about a family that I'm not a part of."

"'kaachan...what does 'disown' mean? And if she's your sister, then is she my aunt?"

"She is and isn't your aunt. Disown...means to be kicked out of the family," explained Sora hesitantly.

"I don't get it."

"Tha-" began Sora, only to be cut off by Kino.

"We did not disown you for no reason."

"I know that," retorted Sora. "You disowned me because I'm just a normal, human being who can't even see spirits."

"That's only part of the reason," murmured Kino.

Sora sounded hurt. "You're not denying it?'

"No, because it was for your own good-" started Yohmei before Sora suddenly cut him off.

"For my own good? How in the world did I benefit from that? My poor sons never knew their family!"

"We were trying to protect you from Hao!" exclaimed Yohmei.

Silence.

"Yoh, can you please take Tsuki somewhere else?" asked Sora quietly.

Footsteps.

Manta hurriedly scooted away from the door as it opened. Yoh lead Tsuki, pulling him along gently by his hand. The little boy looked down at his feet, confused about what was going on. Anna came through the door as well, glaring at the three "eavesdropping" boys. They weren't exactly eavesdropping though. It was the door's fault. Such a paper-thin door couldn't block the voices at all. A flustered Tamao followed Anna into the room of the younger generation. She slid the door close behind her and sat down next to the wall.

There was a long silence on the other side of that door.

And then the questions.

"What do you mean? And why bring this up now?"

Mikihisa, silent thus far, opened his mouth to answer her questions.

"Yohmei knew that-"

"Wait," cut in Sora.

Mikihisa paused.

"Who are you?"

Manta almost crashed into the ground. Even though he was in a separate room, he could imagine Mikihisa's reaction. Manta would have thought that Sora knew who Mikihisa was! Though Mikihisa's mask might be a bit confusing...

"Uh...I'm Mikihisa."

"Oh. OH! I'm so sorry...I couldn't recognize you under that mask. And you've gained some weight since I last saw you...er..." said Sora quickly.

"Uh...right. Anyway, Yohmei knew that Hao was going to be reborn into the Asakura family in time for the Shaman Fight-"

"Stop," said Yohmei steadily. "Don't go on any further.

Mikihisa's voice held an urgent tone. "No, I won't stop. I have to explain this. I have to let her understand that she wasn't the only one who was suffering. In my opinion, Keiko suffered the most. Besides, you've already started explaining. Why not tell her everything?"

Another silence.

"No more interruptions? That means I can continue again, right? Okay. As I said, Yohmei knew that Hao was going to be reborn into the Asakura family. That meant that either you or Keiko would give birth to him. After seeing you interact with your son Hoshi, Yohmei decided that you would be better off living a life of your own. Since you can't see spirits...if you were the one who had given birth to Hao, he would have no doubt killed you and Hoshi. That was his goal, to create a world especially for Shamans. If his own mother wasn't a shaman, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. To prevent that, Yohmei banished you, which in effect, decided Keiko's fate of being Hao's mother."

Manta glanced towards Yoh-kun. How was he taking this? The grownups in the other room were partly discussing Yoh-kun's birth as well, since it was so interconnected with Hao's. Was Mikihisa bitter about Yoh-kun's birth? Manta's eyes then trailed towards Tsuki, who was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. How was Yoh's little cousin taking this? No one had bothered to explain anything to him. Manta started worrying, wringing his hands together. But, he watched as Yoh-kun knelt down, whispering something in Tsuki's ears. Tsuki's eyes brightened somewhat, a smile tugging at his lips. Leave it to Yoh-kun to be reassuring!

The argument in the other room continued.

"Well, I can't say I'm grateful. My disownment only brought me pain. If your goals were to protect me from Hao, well, you guys failed."

"How can you say that? You're alive! Isn't that a success?"

Sora snorted. "Yes, I'm alive. But my husband isn't. Hoshi isn't either."

Manta blinked. Hoshi wasn't alive? Who was she referring to? Hao? No...it couldn't be. Hao was alive and healthy. Wait...didn't Mikihisa mention that Yohmei decided to "banish Sora after seeing her interact with her son Hoshi?" Did that mean that the "Hoshi" they were talking about really did refer to someone else? Sora's older son? Manta blinked once again. If that was true, then Hao actually named himself after Sora's first son who Sora said that Hao had killed! Was it a coincidence? Did Hao just feel comfortable with that name, or did he remember killing the former Hoshi?

Another silence.

"You weren't able to protect my family from Hao."


	32. Their Whereabouts part 1

Though he didn't know it, Manta was entirely correct to say that Hao must have traveled a lot to gather so many followers. And travel he did. The former pyromaniac had traveled to Italia, France, England, America...name any place and he probably went there before. Since the number of shamans in the world was far less than the number of normal humans, Hao had to search high and low for the select few who were willing to join his cause. And to do that, Hao traveled.

Hoshi realized that little fact during his walk with Macchi toward her current residence. Hoshi had made an off-hand comment about the color of Macchi's hair, which somehow led to where she came from.

"I used to live in England, you know," said Macchi. "Until Hao-sama came and took me away."

Hoshi blinked. What did that have to do with the color of her hair? Nevertheless, Hoshi stopped thinking about her strange orange hair and instead concentrated on what she just said. Besides, she probably dyed her hair just so that it'd be the same color as her favorite food.

"I didn't know that I went to England before," remarked Hoshi. That might be the reason why he knew his English so well.

"Oh yes, Hao-sama came to England. You took me and then went to Germany for Kanna and then to Italy for Mari."

Were those the names of the other two girls he saw in his dream?

Macchi giggled a bit. "Now that I think about it, the first time we gathered together was so awkward!"

Hoshi raised his eyebrows.

Macchi spun around on the sidewalk, swinging her broom as if it were a dance partner. "I mean, I only spoke English, Kanna only spoke German, and Mari only spoke Italian. We couldn't communicate at all!"

_But, we had Hao-sama as our translator, so all was good. _

Hoshi shook his head, amused at Macchi's words and thoughts.

"Of course, not being able to say what we wanted to each other directly was very inefficient."

_I mean, come on! I had to ask Hao-sama to tell Mari that I was going to the bathroom!_

Hoshi sweatdropped.

Thankfully, Macchi didn't expand on that particular thought.

"We all ended up learning Japanese, since that's Hao-sama's native language."

Macchi grinned as she twirled her broom and continued her slow advancement towards her residence. Hoshi followed after her, deep in thought.

He was amazed that the former him was that influential and that goal driven. People even started learning Japanese because of him. They gathered together because of him. Currently, he couldn't even picture himself going to so many different countries and gathering so many people who didn't even speak the same language. All that work for the cause of creating a world consisting solely of shamans! He hadn't met any shamans who were worthy of having a world for themselves yet. The store clerk had just been a weak, impatient shaman. The boy at the graveyard, Tao Ren, had been brash and obnoxious. The short boy he met at the cram school hadn't exactly been a shaman. And now...Macchi. She ate too much kabocha for her own good. He was sure that those small pumpkins were going to plague his dreams. Or nightmares more like it.

A world of only shamans sounded almost obscure when all he had as examples of shamans were the store clerk, the boy at the graveyard, and the kabochi-loving Macchi. Why would he ever want to create a world for those and only those people?

As he followed Macchi, Hoshi glanced up at the almost hidden moon set against the bright Shibuya night sky. A group of teenagers walked past him, their laughter slowly fading into the background as Hoshi's mind settled on one thought.

A new world, was it?

If not a world of only shamans, then what would he want for a new world?

His eyes glazed over. His steps slowed down.

_Swaying grass. Tall, sturdy trees. A boy resting against the tree's thick trunk. A transparent tabby cat curled up next to the boy. A younger boy pouting and pulling on the first boy's hands, urging him to get up and play. A gentle woman opening the door and calling the two boys in for dinner. The sun setting, leaving room for the stars and the moon to shine in its place. The two boys lying on their backs, gazing up at the stars and pointing out different constellations. The woman kneeling next to them, watching them identify the stars. The young boy and the woman's laughter ringing softly into the night..._

Hoshi smiled sadly.

If he really were to create a new world, it would be a world in which Sora and Tsuki would both be happy.

He had a feeling that Sora would only be happy if she were accepted back into her family. Tsuki would probably be happy knowing that he had a larger family. He'd even have a new cousin to play with.

They'd be happier without him in their lives.

There wasn't any room for him...the murderer.

"Hey, Hoshi-sama, what are you blanking out for?"

Macchi turned to look at him, her left arm on her hip and her right arm holding her broom to rest against her shoulder. Hoshi had indeed blanked out and was now quite far behind the orange-haired girl.

Hoshi's smile became wry as he hastened his steps to catch up with Macchi.

"Just thinking."

Macchi rolled her eyes. "I can tell that! But, it's not fair that you always know what I'm thinking and I never know what you're thinking!"

Hoshi shrugged as he caught up to her. "It's not that great being able to hear what you're thinking. I have a hard time tuning out your thoughts. They're so loud."

"Hey! I'm not loud," protested Macchi.

"Whatever."

_What do you mean by 'whatever?' My thoughts are LOUD? Then I'll be loud for you! Take this! LISTEN TO ME! KABOCHA IS DELICIOUS AND HOSHI-SAMA IS MEAN!_

Hoshi winced. He had to say something to get Macchi's mind off of his previous comment.

"The plane tickets must have been expensive," said Hoshi off track.

"Plane tickets? What plane tickets?" asked Macchi.

She finally stopped screaming at him in her mind, though her questions were intriguing.

"How else would I have gotten around?" answered Hoshi, his heart skipping a beat. Was he missing out on something? What else had he forgotten? It must have been something important.

Macchi's answer was exasperated. After all, the answer was so obvious to her.

"On the Spirit of Fire of course!"

Spirit of Fire.

Hoshi's eyes widened.

It all _clicked_ then.

The peaceful images flew out of his mind at an alarming speed. In their place appeared the giant red spirit with rippling energy traveling through its entire body.

Back in America when Hoshi had just woken up in Sora and Tsuki's home, he had felt that he was missing something. It was something that had accompanied him for a long time. When Tsuki had almost fallen off the tree, he had called for the Spirit of...and he couldn't finish his call. The name of what he had been trying to call had eluded him. Instead, only Hoshisuke had been by his side to help him. Then, his last dream about Sora's older son had ended up with a flaming arm disrupting his view.

It was the Spirit of Fire.

Hoshi felt that he gained a piece of himself back. It was the Spirit of Fire that he had been missing all this time, right? His past seemed to be slowly coming together again.

Should he feel happy about that?

It was strange...hearing about the Spirit of Fire stirred something in him, but he couldn't really identify what that feeling was. It wasn't happiness though.

"Where is it now?" whispered Hoshi quietly. Here he was again, asking something that he already knew part of the answer to. Something must have happened, or else the Spirit of Fire would still be with him.

Macchi immediately sobered. "Er...Hoshi-sama...you don't know?"

Hoshi shook his head.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure either...because that was around the time you disappeared. We all thought you had," she gulped, "_died_ and so we didn't really care much about the Spirit of Fire."

Hoshi frowned.

Macchi continued on quickly. "But Kanna guessed that since the Spirit of Fire used to be part of the Great Spirits before becoming Hao-sama's spirit, it most likely merged back with the Great Spirits. So the Spirit of Fire, the Spirit of Water, the Spirit of Earth, the Spirit of Thunder, and the Spirit of Wind are finally back together."

Macchi whispered the next words.

"A complete Great Spirits."

Even though Hoshi wasn't quite sure what a complete Great Spirits signified, he still knew that it was something astounding. He stopped walking.

Macchi fidgeted when she found out that Hoshi had stopped following her. Hoshi wasn't speaking either.

Suddenly, she opened her mouth. "Hey, Hoshi-sama, what's your spirit now?"

Hoshi paused for a moment. It seemed that both of them were skilled at throwing things out of the blue. Either that, or both of them were good at changing the subject.

"You do have a spirit, right?"

He absentmindedly called out Hoshisuke. The small tabby cat materialized next to Hoshi, blinking its blue eyes at the orange-haired girl.

"Meow?"

Macchi squealed. Hoshi swore that Macchi squealed.

"Oh my gosh! It's soooo cute! So orange too!"

The orange-haired girl covered her mouth with her gloved hand, quickly turning her head away.

Hoshi narrowed his eyes as he studied the orange-haired girl.

Was she...shaking?

_Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Hoshi-sama should merge with him! Oh my gosh...I can picture it...Hoshi-sama with cat ears and a tail. I think I'm going to faint or die laughing!_

Hoshi sighed.

She WAS shaking. Shaking with laughter.

He shook his head.

Laughing in one's own mind was the first sign towards insanity.


	33. Their Whereabouts part 2

"Here we are."

Macchi stopped in front of a three-storied apartment. The building wasn't very tall compared to the skyscrapers in the heart of Shibuya. Hoshi immediately noticed how closely cramped together the doors were. The individual rooms that the doors led to must be _tiny_.

The orange-haired girl left him no time to think further as she started heading towards the stairway. They went up two flights of stairs, Macchi practically running with Hoshi trudging behind, and finally arrived in front of her door.

Hoshi could feel smugness radiating off the girl.

She set her broom against the wall and rummaged through her pockets. Her eyes lit up when her hands closed around her keys. They jingled as she took them out and inserted them into the doorknob. She turned her key until she heard the satisfying _click_.

Macchi grabbed the knob and flung the door open. She grinned, snatching her broom from the wall and turning towards Hoshi.

"Welcome to my humble little adobe, Hoshi-sama! I pay the rent all by myself!"

Amused, Hoshi let himself be shepherded into the small room. Macchi quickly found a pair of slippers for him and then headed towards the kitchen.

Left alone, Hoshi glanced around. The room was pretty small, especially since he was used to the spacious cottage in America and the somewhat spacious place that Sora had found them in Japan. The room was more like a box that had a little extension for the kitchen and a door to the bathroom. He did notice, however, the miniature jack-o-lanterns that decorated the walls. It was a homely little place. And it was just that...a homely little place too small to house more than one person. So where was everyone else?

Macchi, clueless to Hoshi's thoughts, came back with two glasses filled with some kind of orange liquid. She knelt down on her cushion in front of her low table, placing the glasses on the table.

"Hey, Hoshi-sama, don't just stand around! Come sit down."

Now that Macchi mentioned it, he was a bit tired of standing up. Hoshi plopped down on the other side of the table.

He spared the glass of orange liquid on the table a wary glance.

Orange liquid.

It couldn't be...

Pumpkin juice??

Macchi grabbed the glass closest to her and drank. She tilted the glass up and gulped down the orange liquid. Hoshi could see the liquid traveling down her throat like pulses.

"Don't you want some?" Macchi asked as she set her empty glass down.

"No, that's okay. I'm not thirsty." Even if he were thirsty, pumpkin juice wasn't going to quench his thirst.

Macchi shrugged and began to drink out of the other glass.

Hoshi wasn't one to fidget, though he came close to it. Sitting in such a small room, watching Macchi down that unknown orange liquid with him just sitting there doing nothing was a bit...uncomfortable. He didn't follow Macchi to watch her drink some unknown orange liquid after all. He didn't follow her to stay in this cramped little room. He didn't follow her to sit around and do nothing. He didn't follow her to _fidget._

Hoshi suddenly leaned forward. He rested his arm on the table. He casually rested his face on his hand. His hair cascaded around his arm, part of it pooling on the table, part of it falling past the table without intrusion. A smile slowly spread over his face.

"Enjoying your juice?" asked Hoshi.

Macchi blinked and put down her glass.

"Uh...yeah...it's delicious." She smiled hesitantly.

_Was it just my imagination? Hoshi-sama sounded like..._

"Now that you've finished, can you tell me...just where is everyone?" The smile never left his face.

..._like the Hao-sama in my memories._

Macchi stood up. She pointed to the telephone.

"Well, none of us live close to each other. Most went back to their own countries, though some stayed in Japan. I chose not to go back to England...since I have no one there waiting for me."

_And Japan has got to have the best kabocha dishes ever._

At Hoshi's dubious look, Macchi hurriedly added on to her previous words. "But, don't worry Hoshi-sama! I have everyone's contact information." Her nervous smile turned into a reassuring one, "I'm sure everyone will be glad to know that you're back...you're our savior after all."

She headed over to the telephone without Hoshi's asking and hastily dialed a number. When no one picked up immediately, she began tapping her foot impatiently.

"Pick up, damn it!"

The phone kept ringing on and on. Just as Macchi thought that no one was going to answer, a voice sounded on the other end of the line.

"Hallo."

Finally!

Macchi opened her mouth. "Hey, I have something to tell y-" She was cut off as the voice on the other side continued.

"-geh weg ich mittag essen. Ich kann nicht telefon gehen lassen einen bote bitte. Beeeeeep!"

Macchi rolled her eyes. "Don't fool me with a German voice message! I know you're there Kanna!"

"Beeeeep!"

That, supposedly, was "the signal" that her time to leave a message was up.

_Stupid Kanna. Why isn't she answering me?_

Macchi frowned.

_If what I'm going to say next doesn't catch her attention, I don't know what else will._

"He's back, Kanna."

Silence.

Macchi began counting in her mind.

_Five, four, three, two..._

"Holy !!#&amp;."

"Hey, don't taint my innocent ears," replied Macchi. She was still annoyed that Kanna had tried to mislead her with a fake German voice message.

"Since when?" asked the dazed voice belonging the blue-haired girl on the other end of the line.

"I met him today at the restaurant I work at."

"That...can't be true. He's...not alive anymore."

"You got that wrong Kanna! He came to eat at the restaurant today and even paid for my meal!" protested Macchi.

_Not to mention that he's currently sitting at the my table in my apartment!_

Kanna laughed.

"Him, pay? Knowing him, he'd pressure the restaurant to not take his money. What you just said convinced me that you got the wrong person."

Macchi shook her head even though Kanna wouldn't be able to see her movement. "Why are you doubting me? I know Hao-sama. I'd never mistake him for anyone else. He came for us when we desperately needed help! So why are you denying that he's back?"

"I won't argue with you about him coming for us in our darkest hour. I'm forever grateful to him for helping me and taking me away from those people that shunned me. When he suggested a world without those very humans that made me feel so unwanted, I was all for it. We fought for his cause. Heck, we were willing to die for it. But...Macchi...that's not what I want anymore," said Kanna hastily, as if afraid that Macchi wouldn't listen to her.

"Kanna, what do you mean? What are you trying to get at?" Macchi felt a shiver of fear travel through her, quickly replacing her previous jubilant mood. Hoshi-sama was sitting in the same room as her, able to hear every single word that she was saying and _thinking_...and yet her conversation with Kanna didn't seem to be going well.

"Macchi, aren't you happy with your life as it is now? I...I like my current life. I finally found what I want to do the most. Moving back to Germany helped me pick up the pieces of my life that I had left behind when I went with Hao-sama. I...dear god...I even found people, regular _humans_, that I can...trust. I don't want to go back to hating humans! I don't...Macchi, is that what you want? A world void of humans?"

Macchi blinked.

_Is that what I want? Do I still want a world void of humans?_

"I...I..." stuttered Macchi. She felt a slight movement to her right. She turned around in panic, and saw Hoshi-sama standing there, his arm outstretched, signaling for the phone. Macchi's hand shook as she handed the phone over.

Kanna continued, oblivious to the change.

"I'm personally glad that I'm free of his hold now."

Macchi hugged her broom close to her for security. Her heart seemed to be pounding a mile a minute. She didn't think she could be any more nervous than she was now. She was scared out of her wits for Kanna. And scared for herself as well, considering that she was the one standing next to him in the same room. She didn't think Hoshi-sama would do anything to her...but Hao-sama would have.

"And tell me, just why is that?" asked Hoshi slowly.

The phone clattered on the other end.

Hoshi heard some very quiet cursing as the girl presumably fumbled for the phone.

"Damn that Macchi...she should had told me in the very beginning that _he_ was in the same room as her. Damn. I just dug myself into some deep shit this time."

Hoshi waited quite patiently for her to pick up the phone again. When she did, she didn't disappoint him with her reaction. Exactly as he imagined it. Just about everyone he had met since he had woken up without his memory had said around the same thing when they met him again. Or, in this case, talked to him again.

"HAO-SAMA? How...how is that possible...I...you...it's just not possible!"

Hoshi ignored most of her words. He was only interested in what she had to say about his question.

"Tell me, why are you glad that you are," Hoshi so kindly repeated Kanna's words, "_free of my hold now_?" When Kanna didn't answer immediately, Hoshi quietly uttered the next question, the question that related to the one that had been plaguing him since the day before.

"What made you...change your mind about a world without humans?"

A pause, and then...

"Hao-sama...are you alright? You seem kind of off to me. Why are you asking me this? I thought you'd..." Kanna left her words trailing.

Macchi, who had heard every bit of the conversation since she was standing so close, completed Kanna's thought for her.

_Kanna thought that Hao-sama would kill her for what she said, or at least lash out at her. Yet...all he has done is ask her questions._

Macchi relaxed her hold on her broom as Hoshi off-handedly answered Kanna.

"That doesn't matter...Macchi can give you the details later. Just answer my question."

"All right. Hao-sama, you heard my entire conversation with Macchi, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's why."

Hoshi's hair shadowed his eyes.

"That doesn't tell me a thing. Is the world truly fine with humans still in it?" asked Hoshi in a low, pressing voice.

"Hao-sama...that's a whole different question than the two you just asked me."

Hoshi was exasperated, hating having something like that pointed out to him. "Then forget about the previous two questions and just answer this one."

Kanna's voice trembled. "I...that's something that I can't answer...for you."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I...Hao-sama, Everyone has different opinions, and they can change." Her voice sped up. "I used to believe that the world needed to be rid of humans, but now I happen to believe that the world is fine as it is."

Hoshi gripped the phone harder. What was his opinion then? What did he think? What exactly was his opinion now?

He didn't notice as the other end of the line went dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation of Kanna's message (or what it's intended to say):  
> Hello.  
> Go away, I am eating lunch.  
> I cannot answer the phone right now. Please leave a message after the beep.


	34. Acknowledgement

"You weren't able to protect my family from Hao."

Sora stared at her parents, her words hanging in the air.

Yohmei uncrossed his arms, letting his hands drop by his side. His eyes were wide with disbelief. "What?"

"You heard me," said Sora quietly, somewhat stricken. She had never seen her father lose his composure. Normally, she would have given anything to see her father shaken up, but now that it was happening in front of her, she wished it wasn't happening. Her father had been the epitome of calmness and reliability. To her, he had been a towering authority figure who had seemed untouchable, unchallengeable. Now however, the person standing in front of her was just a man, a normal man who had been trying his hardest to protect his family.

And failed.

Yohmei turned his face away from Sora, unable to look her in the eye. His body shook as he covered his face with his right hand.

"Yohmei," murmured Kino.

Yohmei put his left hand in the air to stop her from speaking further. "I'm okay."

Without looking at Sora, Yohmei started murmuring to himself. "Your husband and little Hoshi...it can't be..."

It was a sad thing, thought Sora. It took her seventeen years away from Japan and her entire lifetime before that to discover that her father was human after all. And it took Yohmei her husband and her son's death to make him see that he had been wrong. His desire to protect her and her family had been genuine, but his way of doing it had been entirely wrong.

They were truly a sad pair of father and daughter.

"...they were killed..." Yohmei finished his own statement. He gripped his hands together. Then, uncharacteristically, Yohmei began berating himself. "I...sent them to their deaths! If I hadn't disowned you thinking that I could protect all of you, I would have at least had you all in sight. Maybe then...I could have protected you."

Sora looked to the ground, her drive to reprimand her parents dissipating. She had wanted them to know what she felt about their decision to outcast her, but seeing her father feel so guilty was making her uncomfortable. She, in truth, blamed no one for their deaths except for herself. She had tried to blame her father and then Hao...but nothing could ease her pain. Nothing helped her forget.

"It's not your fault, otousan," whispered Sora. Immediately after she said those words, she covered her mouth. What was she thinking, calling him Father? She wasn't even part of the family anymore. She wasn't...

She stopped thinking when a pair of arms encircled her. Her eyes widened when she found her father hugging her and her mother holding her hands.

"I'm relieved that you are still willing to call me father."

Kino squeezed Sora's hands. "We're proud of having you as our daughter. I'm sorry that you never knew that until now."

Sora nodded numbly, unable to speak. This was what she had wanted all along. Acknowledgement from her parents. Her son, no, her _sons_, wouldn't be without a family now.

Mikihisa reached out to grasp Keiko's hand, and together, they stood by the side, watching without a word.

* * *

Outside the dining room, the younger generation was straining their ears trying to catch words from the heated argument. When the other side of the door fell silent, they were going nuts trying to figure out what was happening.

Or at least Manta was going nuts, since he was a natural worrywart.

True to his nature, Manta wrung his hands together as he paced across the room in his short strides. What was going on in the other room? He had to know! After Sora had made it clear to the others that her family hadn't been protected from Hao, the argument in the other room had suddenly dropped in volume. He hadn't been able to hear anything after that.

What was happening? It was ironic, perhaps, that he was even more worried than Yoh, who if his grandfather wasn't the epitome of calmness, he certainly was. Manta was probably even more worried than Tsuki, who was more confused than worried.

When the door finally opened again, Manta's head jerked up.

He sighed in relief upon seeing the gentle smile on Sora's face.

The woman immediately beckoned her son over. "Tsuki, come and meet your grandparents and your aunt and uncle."

An incredulous look crossed Tsuki's face before it melted into one of wonder.

"I have grandparents? And an aunt? And even an uncle?"

Sora nodded. She smiled as she added as an afterthought. "And Yoh-san's your cousin as well."

Tsuki blinked before turning towards Yoh.

"Did you hear that? Yoh-niisan, you really are my cousin!"

Manta stopped wringing his hands as he watched Tsuki happily pull Yoh-kun up in celebration.

* * *

Anna tried to keep the smile off of her face, though she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from curving upwards. Sometimes, Yoh felt like a big child to her, but watching the little boy Tsuki try to coerce Yoh into jumping up and down with him made Anna realize that Yoh had grown up without her realizing it. At least he wasn't a hyper little kid like Tsuki anymore. They were such an adorable pair though...and Anna would die before she admitted that to anyone.

"C-Cute," murmured Tamao, her blush deepening as Ren raised his eyebrow at Tamao's words and Horo Horo frowned.

Leave it to Tamao to be both overly shy and open at the same time.

That thought made her tear her gaze away from the happy pair, instead focusing her attention on the woman at the doorway. Yohmei-ojiisama and Kino-obaasama had approached Sora from behind. The woman turned around to face her parents once again.

"Where are you staying right now? Do you want to come back with us to Izumo?" asked Kino.

Sora seemed to be struggling to find an answer. She glanced at Tsuki, and Anna noticed that her gaze seem to linger on Yoh as well.

"I...I'm staying in a rented house near here," replied Sora finally, somewhat hesitantly.

"How are you supporting yourself? Where do you work?" asked Kino pressingly, concerned about her daughter's well-being now that she was in her sight once again.

Sora bit her lips. "I haven't found any work in Japan. Until now, I've been using the money that...my husband left me."

"I see. You should come back with us then," suggested Kino. "Paying for rent must be very taxing for you."

"That's true, but I...I think I want to stay here." Sora's eyes wandered around, looking everywhere but at her parents.

Anna pursed her lips. Sora's gaze really was straying towards Yoh a lot.

"Why? This city isn't your birth town. I wouldn't think that you'd have any lingering feelings for this city," commented Yohmei.

Sora closed her hands together. "I don't, but I'm waiting for someone. I have to stay here because I know this is the place he will return to."

"Waiting for someone? Who are you waiting for?" asked Mikihisa.

"Um...Hoshi," replied Sora, knowing that her answer was bound to cause more questions.

Keiko looked surprised. "Hoshi? I though you said that he..."

"I'm waiting for another person who goes by the name Hoshi," answered Sora.

"What? Who?" demanded Yohmei.

Sora glanced towards Yoh again before looking at the ground. She tightened her grip on her hands.

"Would telling you that 'Hoshi' is the new name that an amnesic Hao took on make things any easier to understand for you?" asked Sora quickly.

"WHAT?"

Apparently, that only made things more confusing.

* * *

Things gradually calmed down as they sorted out the facts. They now knew that Sora had been taking care of an amnesic Hao for the past year and that he had run off just recently. When Yohmei and Kino questioned her sanity for taking care of the murderer of her husband and son, Sora just shook her head, saying that Hoshi would always be a son to her before being a murderer. After hearing Sora's words, Keiko felt a strange sense of relief overwhelming her.

She whispered in a quiet voice that only Mikihisa could hear. "He's alive...my son is alive."

Mikihisa tightened his grip on Keiko's hand. "That's good news, isn't it? Even if he lost his memory, he's still alive."

Keiko nodded. After giving birth to Hao, Hao had burned Mikihisa's face. He hadn't killed any of them, but he certainly hadn't let any of them take care of him. She never had the chance to do so.

She looked at her older sister, who was currently sitting at the table, eating a late dinner with Tsuki. She was glad that Hao finally had the chance to learn about what it was like to have a mother and a brother, though she felt sad that she wasn't the one who taught him that. She glanced at Yoh. Was he feeling the same way? Did he regret that he wasn't the one who had taught Hao what it felt like to have a brother?

Keiko believed that her older sister, no matter what she thought about herself, was an amazing person. Her son Tsuki was just as amazing. They had been able to accomplish what no one else had been able to do.

Hao had stayed with them for an entire year. His losing his memory might have made it easier for them to reach him, but something else about them must have made Hao feel safe.

Keiko was grateful to her sister that Hao finally had a chance to start things anew. All this while, he had only been continuing the life that he started 1000 years ago. In every reincarnation, Hao had two identities. The Hao of 1000 years ago and the new identity he was born into. His new identity was always squashed in favor of the old Hao. His losing his memory...finally allowed him to live as the identity that he would have had if he hadn't remembered his past lives. In this life, Hao was still a teenager, and teenagers needed their families.

Keiko sure that Hao would return to the family that he felt safe with.

After all, no matter what had happened in the past, she was still his mother, and mothers knew things like that.


	35. Start of School

After Anna heard Sora's conversation with her parents, the girl immediately offered Sora rooms at Funbari Onsens.

"We have plenty of rooms here. You can cook, right? You'll be a good addition to our staff."

While Sora was busy thanking Anna, the calculating girl shrugged the older women's thanks off, already thinking about how her customers would be glad to have home-cooked meals made with motherly affection.

Even though Sora didn't move over right away, she began working as the main cook the very next day. Anna had been needing a cook desperately ever since Ryu left for the culinary academy. She couldn't afford to let her customers starve while he was away.

Yoh's grandparents and parents had stayed the night at the inn, but when Sora came over to cook breakfast for everyone the next morning, they had already left for Izumo. Their only message was to contact them once Hao, or Hoshi, was found.

Tamao had tried to follow them, but Anna had stopped her. The pink-haired girl had stayed behind, albeit a bit happy that she would be able to see Yoh-sama more, though she couldn't help but feel confused as to why Anna wanted her to stay behind.

Sora, now busy cooking and preparing meals most of the time, was worried that she wouldn't have time to take Tsuki to school. School was starting the next day for Anna, Yoh, Manta, and Tsuki, so no one but herself would be left to look after the inn. Ren had headed back to his apartment, a scowl fixed on his face. The reason? A certain blue-haired Ainu had tagged along with him to his apartment. Horo Horo had somehow found out that Ren had bought a kitten.

That was how Yoh ended up with the job of walking Tsuki to school. Yoh was Tsuki's older cousin after all, and also the person Tsuki felt most comfortable with after his mother and Hoshi. Yoh waved goodbye to Anna, letting her know that he was going to meet her later at school after he dropped Tsuki off.

The two cousins found themselves standing outside of the inn under the bright morning sun. Yoh held Tsuki's hand, a lazy smile spreading over his face as he pushed his headphones over his ears and switched the music on.

"Let's go!"

Yoh tugged at Tsuki's hand as they made a mad dash towards school.

* * *

Two tall men with long, black hair marveled at the amount of people walking around in Shibuya. Hadn't school already resumed for most people? That alone should have caused the streets to empty out quite a bit, yet the streets were clearly still full.

Not that they were complaining. For them, the more people there were, the better chance they had to sell their crafts. Their disguise would be more believable as well.

The first man spread their colorful tablecloth out on the ground. He had a hawk nose and a stern expression. His mouth was fixed in a permanent frown, and his eyebrows were always furrowed. Two feathers were worn behind his head.

The second man took out their crafts, laying them across the cloth. Two strands of his long hair dangled in the front, each tied up separately, running down to his waist. His two feathers were worn behind his ear.

They both wore cloths around their foreheads and cloaks with strange designs that hid their intricate belts. Everything on them was intricate except for their plain, silver earrings.

The first man sat down and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared forward, waiting for customers to come to them.

A group of teenage girls walked by. One girl strayed from the group, approaching their crafts. She peered at one of the handmade ornaments before glancing at the seller. She "eeped" before stepping back quickly.

The second man sweatdropped. He heard the girl whisper urgently to her friends about the scary expression on the seller's face.

"Kalim, you're scaring the customers away. Try to smile for once."

The first man, otherwise known as Kalim, lifted the corners of his lips up, though his eyes were still glaring and shadowed.

The group of teenagers took a collective step backwards before scurrying away.

The second man sighed as he shook his head. "Never mind, that doesn't help."

Kalim resumed frowning and staring out to nowhere. Groups of people passed by them. No one stopped in front of them to buy anything.

The second man leaned against the building behind him, not too worried about their lack of business. Selling their crafts wasn't what they were here for anyway, though it would certainly help pay their rent. His eyes followed the people walking in the streets. He was surprised that he didn't have to look long before he spotted who he was looking for.

"There he is."

A long-haired boy wearing frayed jeans was among the crowd. The man could see an orange spirit trailing after him. Even though the boy's attire was way different from when he last saw him, there was no way he could ever mistake his ancestor for anyone else. For him, the boy stood out sharply from the crowd.

"Reckon he'll come over?"

Right when those words left his mouth, the boy saw the crafts they were selling and started making his way over. He ducked under some people's arms, pushing his way through.

"Well, that makes our job easier. Remember to empty out your thoughts, Kalim. Think about selling our crafts and nothing else. We have to appear like normal people."

Kalim nodded as they both waited for the boy to arrive before them.

When the boy finally arrived where they were and knelt down to look at their crafts, the man put on his best customer smile.

"Welcome boy! Shouldn't you be in school?" The man didn't wait for the boy to reply before he continued. "Don't worry, I won't say anything about your skipping school! Take a look, take a look! We have very fine, handmade crafts."

The boy ignored the man's annoying talk as he picked up a pair of earrings instead.

"Ah, the earrings caught your interest, didn't they? They're quite a bargain considering the effort we put into them." He continued talking, but the boy had already dropped the earrings and had stood up to leave.

"Hey, leaving alre-"

The boy left without a word or a backward glance. The orange spirit, which the man now saw was an orange cat, mewed as it followed its master away.

The two men watched the boy disappear into the crowd.

Kalim shook his head.

"You talk too much Silva."

* * *

The two boys walked quickly down the street, darting through the crowd, stores passing by in a blur. They were running late. Yoh was already resigned to the fate of being late to class. He didn't care much about himself being late to class, although it did bother him that Tsuki might also be late for his classes. So, when Yoh saw the pedestrian light blink, he sped up to try to make it across the crosswalk. They couldn't afford to wait after all.

However, Tsuki stopped suddenly. The little boy tugged Yoh to an abrupt stop along with him. The only difference was that Tsuki was standing safely on the sidewalk while Yoh was now standing in the dangerous intersection. Yoh's eyes widened. He quickly scrambled out of the intersection as the light blinked red.

A car zoomed by quickly.

Good thing he made it out of the street!

Yoh looked down at the little boy as he lowered the volume from his headphones. What was so important that Tsuki almost got him run over by a car with his abrupt stop?

Tsuki wore a sheepish expression.

"Um..."

The little boy stopped in his speech. Instead, his eyes spoke for him as they wandered towards the store display behind Yoh's head.

Yoh followed Tsuki's gaze, finally turning around himself.

His eyes landed on a beautiful pair of silver, star earrings.

The earrings were small in a petite kind of way. They shimmered under the spotlight that was shining upon them. Yoh stared at them, mesmerized. His mind wandered as he imagined his long-haired brother wearing them, his hair covering the earrings partly but not enough to obscure them. They were a perfect match for him.

Yoh stepped closer to the earrings, tugging Tsuki along with him.

"They're very pretty, aren't they?" murmured Yoh, his other hand reaching towards the display.

Tsuki nodded, his free hand stashed in his pocket, fingering something that was hidden there. He stared past the earrings on display, his mind occupied elsewhere.

Yoh continued admiring the earrings, his eyes finally trailing towards the price. His eyebrows shot up at the outrageous price, and he hastily stepped away from the display.

Tsuki glanced up wonderingly at Yoh-niisan's sudden movement. "Um, you're not going to buy them?"

Yoh grimaced. "They're pretty...but kind of expensive. Anna won't let me buy something that expensive."

Tsuki bit his lips as he frowned. "...but...but it feels wrong that Hoshi-niichan doesn't have any earrings!" He tightened his hand around whatever was in his pockets.

The older boy finally noticed that the younger one was fidgeting around.

"What's in your pocket?" asked Yoh curiously.

The younger boy looked down hurriedly, thoughts running through his mind. This was Yoh-niisan who was standing in front of him. Tsuki glanced at Yoh-niisan's friendly face. He wouldn't make fun of him for keeping what he kept, right? His mind made up, Tsuki pulled out what he had been fingering for so long.

It was Hoshi's pair of broken, star earrings, the ones that he had stepped on in his hurry to leave the safety of Sora's home. Hoshi hadn't worn them for the past year, but Tsuki remembered seeing Hoshi-niichan wearing them the first day that they had found him.

For Tsuki, the earrings represented Hoshi-niichan.

Tsuki held out the broken earrings, his head still lowered as he tried not to cry. He had picked up the earrings, hoping to fix them, but they weren't fixable. They were broken...and that made him feel as if Hoshi-niichan wasn't coming back to them.

Yoh stared at the broken earrings and then at Tsuki. He smiled before reaching out and taking one of the earrings in his hands.

"I think I know just the way to fix this."

The little boy raised his head, his eyes wide.

"Really?"

Yoh nodded.

Tsuki's eyes lit up.

"Cool!"

Yoh's smile got wider as he watched Tsuki happily take back the earrings that he had been examining. Yoh already had a plan in his mind. Since the earrings were chipped and cracked around the edges, he could smooth them so that the circle in the back became a crescent instead. Then, the earrings would have a star in the foreground and the crescent moon in the background.

Tsuki and Hoshi.

How fitting.

He blinked.

Was there something that he was forgetting?

He furrowed his eyebrows...

"Shoot! We're late!"

Hurriedly, he retook Tsuki's hand and they continued their mad dash towards school. This time, however, Tsuki was no longer depressed. The earrings were actually fixable! Hearing Yoh-niisan say that the earrings were fixable felt very reassuring.

He smiled as Yoh-niisan pulled him towards school.


	36. His Earrings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> moshi moshi: greeting used to start phone conversations  
> -danna: master

Just as Yoh suspected, even Tsuki was late to school. When Yoh finally arrived in front of Tsuki's elementary school with Tsuki in tow, the schoolyard was already empty with not a kid in sight.

They quickly passed through the empty schoolyard, entering the building and heading towards the little boy's classroom. Yoh pulled Tsuki past the entrance, not giving Tsuki a chance to stop and change into indoor shoes. They finally appeared at the door of Tsuki's classroom, breathless and sweaty, with Yoh pulling the door open quite violently...

Twenty pairs of eyes swiveled around to face them.

Nineteen pairs of those eyes belonged to short little kids, some who were snickering at them, some who were gaping at them, and some who were giggling at them.

One pair of those eyes belonged to the teacher, a female teacher, who had her arms crossed and her feet tapping.

"Um...hi?" gulped Yoh.

The eyes continued staring. Yoh actually felt relieved when the teacher's stare turned towards the list in her hands.

"Asakura Tsuki, is it?"

Tsuki nodded.

"Ten minutes late. On the first day of school!"

Tsuki looked flushed, his face pinkish as he suddenly found staring at his feet very interesting.

"I'm sorry," murmured Tsuki.

The teacher shook her head, looking at Yoh instead.

"You're his brother, aren't you?" Yoh immediately uttered to the side, "I'm his cousin actually," though the teacher just continued as if she hadn't heard him. "How irresponsible!"

"Sorry, we sort of got side-tracked along the way."

As the teacher continued lecturing, Yoh slipped his hands out of Tsuki's and tried to inch his way out of the classroom. At Tsuki's alarmed look, Yoh mouthed, "I'll meet you after school!" before finally dashing down the corridor and out of the building.

He kind of felt sorry for leaving his little cousin in the room full of twenty pairs of staring eyes, but he had his own classes to attend.

And he was very, very late.

While taking his little cousin to school wasn't that bad a job, Yoh didn't really feel like doing it again if it meant he had to face the wrath of that teacher and endure the stares of the other nineteen pairs of eyes. They better find Hoshi quick and give his job of taking Tsuki to school back to him.

Yoh grinned at that thought as he made his way towards his school. His hands were closed around the pieces of Hoshi's old earrings. He couldn't wait until school ended for the day so he could start fixing the earrings.

* * *

She glanced at the clock irritably, though her face revealed none of her inner feelings. On the outside, she appeared impassive and uncaring, but her eyes kept darting towards the clock. She paid very little attention to the homeroom teacher talking about what they were going to do for the rest of the school year. It wasn't all that important anyway.

The problem was, where the heck was he?

She glanced at the clock again, her irritation rising.

Yoh was late, late by twenty minutes already.

Was he even going to come at all?

He told her that he was going to meet her at school though.

He was so going to get a scolding from her.

Now that the Shaman Fight was over for more than a year already, there was no reason for Yoh to miss school. Or be late. Yoh's oracle bell had been left hanging in his room, silent and untouched for the past year.

Her ears twitched slightly as she heard loud, pounding footsteps approach the door. She glanced towards the door as it opened, revealing her fiancée grinning sheepishly in the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Asakura Yoh closed the door hurriedly and sat down in the empty seat next to her without waiting for the teacher to say anything. Their homeroom teacher, long used to Yoh's antics, rolled his eyes, quickly muttering a useless reprimand, before continuing whatever he was talking about before.

Her fiancée leaned over to her desk.

"Sorry Anna! I got side-tracked while taking Tsuki to school."

She didn't say anything in reply, opting to ignore him until later. Knowing he was ignored, Yoh looked around for Manta instead. He spotted him and gave him a wave.

Anna was fine with ignoring Yoh for now.

But what exactly did he mean by "side-tracked"?

* * *

It didn't take long for Anna to find out what Yoh meant. When they picked up Tsuki on their way back to Funbari Onsens, Yoh had stopped at a store to buy some paint. Tsuki had helped Yoh select the paint, leaving Anna to wonder what the two boys were up to that she didn't know about.

When they finally returned to the inn, the two cousins had immediately rushed to Yoh's room to begin their project.

She didn't even get a chance to scold Yoh!

She followed them but didn't enter the room. She stood with her back against Yoh's door as she tried to figure out what the two boys were doing.

"Yoh-niisan, can I help?" piped the eager voice of Tsuki.

"Sure. It'll be a present from both of us. Hoshi's earrings will be even better than before."

Anna closed her eyes.

So that was what they were doing. They were fixing Hoshi's broken earrings. That was what they had been side-tracked by this morning.

She opened her eyes when she heard the phone ring.

And ring.

And ring.

Why wasn't anyone picking the phone up?

She grimaced when she noticed that Yoh hadn't come out of his room to answer the phone. It was obvious that he had no intention to answer it. He probably hadn't even heard it.

What about Sora then? What was she doing?

The phone continued ringing.

Irritated, Anna nonetheless made her way over to the phone. Somehow, she always ended up being the person who answered the phone.

"Moshi moshi, this is Funbari Onsens," she said in her business-like voice.

"Anna-danna!" exclaimed a male voice.

"Ryu?"

"I called to tell you that it'll take me another one and a half years to graduate from the culinary academy. I'm so sorry to that it's going to take this long to graduate."

Anna's eye twitched.

"So you know yourself that you've taken too long? No worries. I've already replaced you."

"What! Anna-danna, how can you be so cruel to me! I'm attending this place because I want to help y-"

"Just kidding."

"-ou. Oh. I knew that."

Nobody seemed to enjoy her dry jokes. But at least Ryu didn't dwell on it long.

"There's something else I wanted to tell you. My old gang, Muscle Punch, Blue Chateau, and Ball Boy said that they met someone who looked like Yoh-danna in the streets..."

Anna raised her eyebrow. They met Ha-Hoshi? In the streets?

"...they bumped into him actually. They asked for an apology from him, but got kicked instead. That's not like something that Yoh-danna would do, so I've been thinking..."

Anna felt her throat dry up.

"Is Hao back?"

She couldn't speak. He kicked them? Why did he kick them? Had Hoshi regained his memory? Had he reverted back to the old Hao?

Anna clutched the phone tightly as she gazed furtively towards the direction of Yoh's room.

Yoh and Tsuki were both so oblivious, happily fixing earrings for a person who probably wouldn't even appreciate it.

"Anna-danna?"

That's right, Ryu was still on the line. She shouldn't get distracted like this.

"...don't worry about that for now. Just do your best and come back to us quickly."

She felt a sudden need to know whether or not it was safe to let Hoshi into Yoh's life. She would let no one hurt her Yoh. If Hoshi had once again returned to being the boy who had knowingly burned his father's face and who had delightedly fed his Spirit of Fire human souls, then she would personally make sure that Hoshi stayed out of Yoh's life.

To do that, she would have to find Hoshi before Yoh or any of the others found him.

It was time for her to ask Tamao for some help.

* * *

Tamamura Tamao shyly took the plate from Sora as she helped the older woman around the kitchen. Since Anna-sama had asked her to stay at Funbari Onsens, she had called in sick at her school back in Izumo. Maybe she should have transferred over after all. Then, she could help around the inn more.

And see more of Yoh-sama as well.

She blushed.

When Sora glanced her way, Tamao started drying the plate more quickly. She hurriedly blurted, "I...I could have helped take Tsuki to school!"

Sora smiled, even though she didn't think that was what Tamao had been thinking about. "That's so kind of you! I'm sure Yoh would like that too so he won't be late to school. But really, Tsuki is still more comfortable with Yoh right now. Maybe you can play with Tsuki later so he'll get to know you? I'm sure he'll like you."

Tamao nodded.

She really did want the young Asakura to like her. If she ever transferred over, she would be going to the same elementary school as him. It would be even more convenient to walk with him to school.

She quickly added the benefits of transferring over.

She would be able to help around the inn.

She would be able to help Sora walk Tsuki to school.

She would be able to see Yoh-sama more.

She blushed more.

"Tamao, can I have a word with you?"

The sharp voice broke Tamao out of her thoughts.

"Anna-sama...a word? Of course."

She quickly dried the plate in her hands and placed them in the rack. She then followed Anna-sama into the corridor.

What did she want to talk about? Was whatever Anna-sama was going to say next the reason she had instructed her to stay behind as Yohmei-sama and the others went back to Izumo? Tamao didn't have to wonder for long.

"Tamao, can you predict Hoshi's whereabouts for tomorrow?"

Tamao gulped.

Anna-sama wanted her to use her ouija board to predict where Hoshi would be tomorrow? Anna-sama wanted her, Tamamura Tamao who was a mere student, to predict the future whereabouts of Hoshi?

It was a difficult task, and one that she was afraid she would totally mess up.

She nodded, despite her nervousness.

"I can try."


	37. His Whereabouts

The pink-haired girl knelt down on her knees and spread out her work in front of her. Anna-sama stood by the door, making sure that no one else was going to enter the room. Tamao's two spirits, Konchi and Ponchi, drifted by her sides.

"Please don't mess this up, Konchi and Ponchi," pleaded Tamao.

Her diaper-wearing spirits snickered, but seeing the look of concentration on Tamao's face, they refrained from making jokes. Besides, the glaring Anna silenced even the smallest of their snickers.

Tamao closed her eyes, willing for Hoshi's whereabouts to come to mind.

Her eyebrows furrowed as her hands moved across the ground.

Finally, after a silence so great that even a pin drop could be heard, her lips parted in a whisper that cut sharply through the heavy silence.

"Bank."

She opened her eyes gradually and glanced towards Anna.

"Bank in Shibuya."

Anna uncrossed her arms. "So, Hoshi will be in a bank in Shibuya tomorrow?" More questions ran through her mind. What was he going to be doing there? Was he...going to be taking money out of Manta's bank account?

Tamao looked down.

"...I...I'm sorry that my reading is so imprecise. I don't even know if what I said is accurate."

Anna shook her head.

"No, this is fine. It's a good lead."

Anna was about to leave the room, but she paused before stepping out.

"Tamao, can you keep this information from Yoh?"

Tamao's eyes widened. Keep this information from Yoh-sama? As a constant observer of Yoh-sama, Tamao knew how much he wanted to find Hoshi. To keep such information from him...she couldn't imagine doing that.

"Please Tamao. This is important."

Anna-sama's expression was grim and her posture didn't seem all that confident. Even though Anna-sama wasn't one to show nervousness, Tamao could tell from the slight discrepancy in Anna-sama's usual posture that Anna-sama wasn't all that sure of herself either.

She couldn't go against Anna-sama's pleads.

* * *

At dinner time, both Anna and Tamao ate silently. Anna was still thinking about Tamao's words, wondering why Hoshi would be in a bank. Tamao was feeling guilty about keeping information from Yoh. Both girls were silent, but no one thought their silence strange.

Yoh and Tsuki's obsession with Hoshi's earrings probably contributed to that. They were both happily talking to each other about how the earrings were coming along, so they didn't pay attention to the silent Anna and the equally silent Tamao. They were only thinking about how they had smoothed the front of the earrings out. Now, Yoh needed to carve a moon out of the remaining parts of the earring. After that, they were going to apply a new layer of yellow paint on the star and a layer of red paint on the moon, and their masterpiece would be finished.

Anna's iciness and Tamao's shyness also contributed to their image of silence, so Manta didn't think that anything was out of the ordinary either. Manta just thanked Sora as she refilled his bowl. He loved the food that Sora made. It gave him warmer feelings than any food that his own mother had ever made for him.

But, Anna finally did break her not-so-strange silence.

"Manta, has money disappeared from your bank account lately?"

Still chewing, Manta shook his head. He finally gulped his food down.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Never mind."

Anna returned to her silence, eating her dinner without another word.

However, she had already spiked Manta's curiosity. Manta spent the rest of the dinner observing Anna. She couldn't have asked him that question without a reason. Did her question have something to do with Hoshi? Last time he checked, no one had touched his credit card accounts and money certainly hadn't disappeared from his bank account. Did Anna think that they could track Hoshi through his money usage?

Even though he tried to watch her, he couldn't figure out anything.

And once Anna found out that he was watching her, she glared at him so ferociously that he quickly averted his gaze.

* * *

The two men from Patch stood in their run-down apartment. Their attempts at selling their crafts had been futile, so they hadn't raked in any money. The light hanging from the ceiling flickered and swayed as Kalim pulled the switch on.

Silva quickly attempted to clear a space for them to sit down in by kicking their junk out of the way. He then rummaged through the pile of junk and carried out a black box...er, a television actually, even though it was barely recognizable.

He placed the television in front of them and then plugged it into the only available outlet.

When he turned it on, all he got was static.

"Hey, give me a hand here, Kalim."

The tall, grim man knelt in front of the T.V. and began tweaking the antennas around and changing the channels.

"Yomigaere!" screamed a female voice as the song began playing.

"...wrong channel," said Kalim nonchalantly.

Kalim then changed the channel again, and suddenly the two men from Patch were facing the image of a short, old man. His age was evident in his sagging skin, hardened by the years. Like Kalim, his expression was fixed with furrowed eyebrows and a frown. He also had an intricate bandana around his forehead, with several feathers sprouting out of it. Two thick strands of his grayish-white hair were pulled together in the front. He had his arms clasped together behind his back.

The two men sat down and began updating him on their assignment. At the end, Silva voiced his worries.

"Goldva-sama, are you sure that everything is going as planned? We saw him today, but he didn't seem like he has changed much."

The old man nodded.

"Don't worry. Everything is going according to the will of the Great Spirits."

* * *

After school the next day, Anna stood at the entrance to the inn.

"Yoh, look after the inn while I'm away."

With only those words, or rather, that one command, Anna left the inn.

When the door closed behind her, a puzzled Yoh was left in the room. Where was Anna going? He asked Tamao, who quickly averted her gaze and muttered a jumbled "Idon'tknow" before rushing off to her room.

Yoh shrugged and went to stand behind the front desk to handle business while Anna was out and Sora was busy cooking.

It was too bad that he couldn't work on the earrings, not when everyone else was busy and couldn't look after the inn for him. He probably should have invited Manta over again. Ren and Horo Horo's help would have been nice too.

He rested his chin on his arms, staring off into space.

He hoped that someone was searching for Hoshi while he was stuck at Funbari Onsens, doing utterly nothing...other than staring off into space.

* * *

Someone was indeed searching for Hoshi while Yoh was stuck with the most boring job ever. That someone was his fiancée, Kyoyama Anna.

When Anna got off at the station, she shaded her eyes as she looked at the towering buildings of Shibuya.

She clenched her hands.

She was doing this for Yoh.

She hoped that her venture wasn't going to end in disappointment.

She headed off to the nearest bank.

* * *

"Excuse me, have you seen a boy who looks like this but with longer hair?"

Anna shoved a worn-out photograph of Yoh in front of the bank employee. This was the fifth bank she had gone to. So far, all of the answers to her question had been negative.

It didn't look like she was going to have any luck at this bank either.

Although Anna wasn't that polite, the employee was actually pretty patient as she studied the photograph in front of her.

"No, I haven't. Why are you looking for him? Is he your boyfriend?"

Anna retracted her hand sharply.

"The person in the picture is my fiancée. The person that I'm looking for is my fiancée's brother."

She turned around and left the bank, leaving a somewhat confused bank employee behind.

She didn't know why she felt the need to make the relationship between them clear to a stranger, but somehow she couldn't tolerate any misunderstandings.

She trudged into the next bank and repeated her question.

When the answer turned out negative again, Anna left the bank, her eyes wandering towards the sky.

The sun was setting.

It was getting late.

How long had she been in Shibuya, wandering through the numerous banks? Was Hoshi really in Shibuya? Was he really going to be at a bank? Had he even gone to one?

Was Tamao's prediction wrong?


	38. Bank in Shibuya

Oblivious to his fiancée's struggle to find his brother, Yoh rested his head on his hand as he gazed into space. He was listening to his favorite music through his orange headphones. Normally, he enjoyed being able to do nothing, to not think. It was part of his dream of being lazy after all. But somehow, he felt a bit restless at the moment. Just standing there doing nothing felt...wrong. His little cousin might have been able to keep him company, but the little boy had found staring into space quite boring and had bounced to the kitchen to help his mother instead.

Yoh sighed.

This was, as Tsuki so nicely put it, beyond bo-oring.

They had so little customers that he really had no need to stand behind the front desk. Maybe he should have installed a bell at the desk that the customers could ring. Then he could head off to his room and do something else instead, such as fixing the earrings.

Hm...that actually sounded like a good idea!

Just as Yoh was about to go off to look for a bell, the front door opened.

Yoh stayed rooted to the spot, presenting a lazy smile. It felt as if he was caught in the act, but it wasn't as if he was doing anything bad.

"Welcome to Funbari Onsens. Have you reserved any rooms?" Gah, he hated having to sound professional. He sounded more like a talking machine.

He noticed that the customer was a neatly dressed young man who seemed to be on a business trip. Yoh himself would never wear the blue dress pants and the stiff button-up shirt that the young man was wearing. The young man had been studying the room before turning his attention to Yoh with a warm smile instead of a lazy one like Yoh's.

"Yes, I reserved a room for one person. I have a business trip around this area and one of my friends recommended this inn to me."

As Yoh flipped through the accounts looking for the young man's name, the young man furrowed his eyebrow.

"Have I met you before?"

Yoh paused in his flipping as he glanced up at the young man.

"Nope, not that I know of," replied Yoh offhandedly.

The young man frowned.

"You seem so familiar though. Did I meet you on one of my business trips? I went to Shibuya just two days ago and Asakusa the week before. Maybe I met you there? Strange...I don't usually forget things so easily."

Yoh shook his head, continuing his flipping.

"No, I haven't been to those places recently."

"Really..."

The young man didn't look convinced, but he remained silent as Yoh searched for his name.

"Ah, here's your name! You reserved a room for one day. The room number is 101. It's down the left corridor. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be ordered at the window to the kitchen, and the hot springs are available at all times except from 1-3 A.M. Anything else you want to know?"

The young man listened intently to Yoh. When Yoh reached up to tie his hair back, a sudden realization dawned upon the neatly dressed young man.

"I remember now!"

Yoh blinked.

"Remember what?"

The young man looked at Yoh hesitantly.

"I met you at the station, and we both took the Subway to Shibuya together..."

Yoh slammed the book close. His words could only mean one thing.

"You met my brother?"

The young man shook his head.

"Your brother? What do you mea-"

He paused in his question, instead opting to stare at Yoh. A second realization dawned upon him.

"No wonder I didn't recognize you and you didn't remember me. Your hair is shorter too. Are you twins?"

Yoh nodded.

The young man's face broke into a smile. "What a coincidence to meet you here then when I met your brother at the station! Is he staying here too?" He looked towards the inner door, as if hoping to find Hoshi standing there.

Yoh shook his head. "No...he's not staying here. I wi-"

Yoh stopped himself before he said anymore.

The young man looked slightly disappointed at Yoh's answer.

"Ah, I was hoping I'd meet him again. Your brother caught a man who was harassing a young girl on the train. I really admire him for that."

* * *

Yoh didn't care that Anna might scold him for leaving the inn in someone else's hands. He was wasting time standing there. Precious time that he could have spent looking for Hoshi instead.

Maybe that was why he felt uncomfortable with "doing nothing."

It was such a coincidence that the young man had met Hoshi and it was such a coincidence that the very same young man was now staying at Funbari Onsens.

He wasn't going to let such a rare chance pass him by!

His heart soared when he heard that Hoshi had caught one of the perverts on the train. Hoshi truly was kinder than the old Hao. Yoh wasn't saying that he didn't like the old Hao or anything, but hearing about Hoshi's ventures only strengthened Yoh's desire to find him. He had to find him and bring him back to the family that needed him.

Yoh quickly asked Tamao to take care of things.

"W-where are you going, Yoh-sama?" stuttered Tamao nervously. She had come to the front of the inn at Yoh's request.

Yoh put on his shoes and stood up.

"To Shibuya."

With those words, he walked out of the inn and into the cold outdoors.

Anna had left behind a confused and bored Yoh. Yoh, in turn, left behind a confused and nervous Tamao. Of course, he didn't know that he left behind a wide-eyed Tamao, who has wondering how Yoh had found out about Shibuya. She hadn't told him anything about her predictions...

Tamao fidgeted. What was Anna-sama going to think?

* * *

Wearily, she trudged out of the last bank. None of the bank employees had seen Hoshi. She had asked and asked and asked, and no one had said yes to her question.

Where in Shibuya was he?

She glanced up at the now dark sky, seeing the faint, glimmering stars.

If only he were as easy to find as the stars in the sky!

All she had to do was look up and she could see stars. Granted, it was harder for her to pinpoint a specific star, but nonetheless, the stars were still there. She thought that all she had to do was look in the banks in Shibuya and she would see Hoshi, but she hadn't had any luck at all.

Where there any banks that she hadn't visited yet?

While still preoccupied in her thoughts, Anna suddenly found herself being shoved against the wall as a blur of orange and black ran past her.

"I'm late! I'm late!" yelled a young, female voice.

Anna grimaced as she pushed herself away from the wall. She glared in the direction the voice went, but was only granted with a glimpse of the retreating back of a girl with a head of orange hair tied in two ponytails. The girl soon disappeared into the crowd, leaving Anna with no one to vent her frustration.

She really, really needed to slap someone, or else.

At that thought, she stared down at her hands, which were lined with dirt from the wall. Nasty. She glanced around and then trudged wearily towards the public bathroom. She turned the faucet on and began washing her hands.

The sound of the water was unbearably loud to her ears in the silent bathroom.

Water.

Bank.

She was suddenly struck with a thought.

Bank...bank in Shibuya...

_Water._

It didn't have to be a bank for money!

What if Tamao's prediction...

Anna watched the water from the faucet.

What if Tamao's prediction had referred to a _riverbank_ instead?

Quickly drying her hands, Anna ran out of the bathroom towards where the narrow river should be. She ran until the crowd dispersed. She ran until the bright lights from the buildings faded from view. It was then that she finally found herself walking along the river that she had in mind.

Anna quickly ran forward along the side of the river, following the long riverbank, her heart starting to beat faster. She didn't know if her heart was beating faster because of her running or because of some strange anticipation that she didn't know about.

She almost tripped over a clump of grass, but she didn't let that stop her.

She ran and ran and ran, and finally slowed down.

It wasn't Tamao's predictions that were wrong.

It was her interpretation of them.

How stupid of her. She could have saved herself a lot of frustration and useless searching.

For lying there on the riverbank with his arms behind his head, under the sky of stars far away from the busy parts of the main Shibuya district, was Asakura Hoshi.

It was about time that she found him.


	39. To Trust

Yoh sat down in an empty seat in one of the compartments. He was lucky to have found a seat, for the compartment was pretty full. It was a seat next to the window too. He leaned against the window, looking out of it through the side of his eye. He couldn't make out the scenery. The dark landscape was passing by in a blur.

Only two days ago, his brother had taken this very same trip.

His heart skipped a beat.

It was very likely that his brother was still in Shibuya.

Yoh certainly hoped that he was.

If he wasn't, then what was he supposed to do? Where else was he supposed to look?

The combined efforts of the loud clickety-clack of the subway train and the blasting music that was playing through his headphones didn't serve to drown out his anticipation.

All he could do right now was wait.

The ride was agonizingly slow.

* * *

After the disappointing phone call with Kanna, Hoshi hadn't bothered to stay at Macchi's apartment.

Kanna actually hung up on him. Both sheand Macchi had given him no answers.

When he arrived back in the overly-priced room that he had rented for the day, he grabbed the closest thing he could. It turned out to be a pillow, and good thing it was a pillow, or else it would have shattered or broken when he threw it against the wall. Since it was a pillow, all it did was hit the wall with a poof and fall down unharmed.

Exasperated, he threw himself onto the bed, bouncing slightly on the mattress. He stared at the ceiling, his arms spread out.

The lamplight in the corner of the room flickered.

He closed his eyes, lying on top of his covers without turning the light still off.

_The light was piercing. It was making him wince even though his eyes were closed._

_He raised his hand to his face, trying to block out the blinding light. _

_It didn't work._

_He cracked open his eyes slightly, searching for the light's source._

_Black spots were appearing over his vision for daring to stare directly at such a blinding light, but there was something there that he was sure wasn't a result of his eyes playing tricks on him. He could make out a black shape that was silhouetted against the light._

_A person._

_Him AGAIN. _

_The first time he appeared, he had thrown him into a sea of confusion, making him realize that he was actually a murderer of his own kin. The second time that he had appeared, he had led him straight to questioning his old beliefs and his old followers. What was he going to do this time?_

_Hoshi approached the dark-haired figure, wondering if he could talk. The last time, it felt horrible not being able to speak or hear anything. It had felt as if he were watching an old, silent movie._

_He opened his mouth to address the taller boy._

"_Hoshi."_

_He smiled a bit wryly, glad that he could talk._

"_Hoshi, Tsuki's brother by blood, what the heck are you doing in my dream again?" His eyes flashed. He was determined not to be led around foolishly._

_The figure turned around, scowling. The blinding light wavered around him, making the dark figure appear ironically heavenly._

"_I don't approve of you," said the other Hoshi. "I don't know why they chose you, but it's a fact that they did. And here you are, shirking your duties."_

"_My...duties?" whispered Hoshi._

_The other Hoshi turned back towards the light, which seemed as if it were about to pull him in._

"_Yes, go back to your damn duties!"_

His eyes snapped open.

When had he fallen asleep?

Hoshi blinked, looking around the empty hotel room. When his eyes landed on the cheerful lamp light, he walked over and forcibly shut it off.

With his hand trailing over the cold metal of the lamp, he wondered what the other Hoshi had been trying to tell him. His duties? That other Hoshi really liked to throw him troubling questions.

For the entire day, Hoshi took to wandering around Shibuya. In the morning, he wandered among the crowd. The thoughts of the mobs of people threatened to overwhelm him, but he continued wandering nonetheless. He glanced at the various stores and walked about the various stands and stalls around the streets. He even wandered over to two weird men who were selling hand-made crafts. The way they dressed had been strange, so Hoshi couldn't help but notice them. When one of them had asked him "Shouldn't you be in school?" he immediately remembered Manta suggesting that he should go to middle school, just like him. School probably already started for Manta then. Even though Hoshi had decided to go to middle school as Manta suggested...here he was, wandering about the streets instead of attending school as he had planned.

In the afternoon, he continued to wander. But no matter where he wandered to, he avoided the restaurant that specialized in kabocha.

In the evening, he continued to wander. He finally stopped wandering when he noticed that the lights were becoming dimmer. His feet had unconsciously brought him out of the main crowds.

Standing on the secluded riverbank, Asakura Hoshi plopped down tiredly and gazed up at the flickering stars.

He slept there that night, and somehow was not plagued by dreams. It was strangely comforting knowing that the wide expanse of night sky was overlooking him.

When he awoke the next day, he gave up on wandering. He was tired, and staying on the riverbank under the warm sun felt so comfortable. He just lay there on the soft grass, slightly wet from the morning dew. The river created a soft, soothing melody, its waters flowing gracefully. People walked by him, but none paid him any attention. The day easily turned into night, and he was content watching the stars appear. His stomach grumbled and protested at being denied food, but that didn't matter at all.

Asakura Hoshi was surprised when someone finally disrupted his peace. Soft footsteps from his left were the only things that warned him of that person's approach.

Other than the footsteps and the faraway murmuring from the streets, the night was strangely silent.

What was missing?

At first, he thought that the pair of feet would leave and continue past him, as all other pairs of feet had done earlier that day. But when no more footsteps followed, he knew that they had stopped right next to him. The pair of feet hadn't left.

He finally glanced to his left.

It was a girl with long blond hair wearing a sleeveless black dress despite the cold.

Her face was fixed in a frown, her eyes sharp and challenging. She reminded him a bit of Macchi, just without her exuberance and fanaticism (with kabocha). And she looked as if she were utterly pissed off.

He suddenly discovered what was missing from the night.

It was strangely silent...because he couldn't hear her thoughts.

"Asakura Hoshi. Or is it Asakura Hao again?" asked the girl.

Hoshi narrowed his eyes. So this blond-haired girl wasn't just some stranger who had stumbled upon his hideaway? She actually came looking for him?

"Who are you?"

She wasn't one of the girls who had appeared in his dreams, yet now that Hoshi had studied her appearance for a while, she seemed oddly familiar. She must have known him before he lost his memory.

The girl stiffened before relaxing.

"So you haven't remembered everything then. I thought you had regained your memory."

Hoshi shook his head slowly.

"Only bits and pieces, not enough to place a name to anything. I only remember enough to make me confused. But that's not important. What's important is, who are you? And why..."

Hoshi paused as he glared at the girl.

"Why can't I hear your thoughts?"

The girl stared back at him calmly.

"So you can hear thoughts still?" She didn't wait for Hoshi to answer. "I'm Kyoyama Anna, but I doubt that giving you my name will ring any bells if you don't remember me at all."

"No, your name doesn't help."

"Why are you here?" asked Anna suddenly.

Hoshi rolled his eyes as he averted his attention away from the mysterious girl. "Not answering my question are you? Fine, I'll tell you a bit more about myself then."

He gazed back at the sky. Why was he being so lenient with her? He shrugged inwardly before he barged on with his next words.

"Those lights back there obscure most of the sky. It makes the stars hard to see. Lying here, under the starry sky, makes sorting out my thoughts much easier. My power to hear thoughts, I assume that you know about it since you didn't go ballistic when I asked you that question before, has only crowded my mind with unwanted thoughts. I've been so overwhelmed by those thoughts that it made it hard for me to remember what thoughts were my own. It's much more comfortable here."

Anna remained silent.

Hoshi tore his gaze from the stars once again.

"I met a young man in the Subway two days ago. I couldn't hear his thoughts because he wasn't thinking about anything. But I don't think that's the case with you because you came looking for me. You must be thinking about something at least, so why can't I hear your thoughts?"

When Hoshi turned towards Anna with a prodding look, she hesitated, wondering if her next words were going to make him burst out laughing. Nevertheless, she threw her silly fear away and ventured forth with what she felt she had to say.

"It's because of trust."

Hoshi's eyebrow quirked up.

"Trust? I don't see how that has anything to do with-"

"Once you trust, you have no need of the power anymore," interrupted Anna. She held his gaze squarely, daring him to challenge her words. She wanted to wipe the disbelief off of his face. "I had a similar power to yours and I hated it. But Yoh came into my life. He made me understand what trusting meant. And that's when my power faded away. I no longer needed it."

Anna continued. "Why don't you try to stop doubting everyone? Try to trust. Think that the cup is half full instead of half empty."

"The rest is up to you."

Anna shut up abruptly and fled from Hoshi's view, feeling a bit dazed that she had poured her heart out in front of who used to be her deadliest enemy. She usually wasn't even this open with Yoh!

Would her words affect him at all?

At least she restrained herself from slapping him.

* * *

Meanwhile, the announcer announced that the train had just pulled into the Shibuya station.

The train stopped, and Yoh stepped off the platform into Shibuya.


	40. His Choice

When he walked to the exit of the station, Yoh was instantly greeted with glowing neon lights. He blinked, wincing from the bright lights that decorated the buildings.

He could barely imagine Hoshi wandering around in a place like this. Hoshi was more of an outdoor, nature type of person, and this desecration of nature must really irk him. But the young man staying at Funbari Onsens had said that Hoshi came here. Yoh had no choice but to believe him.

He was about to leave the station when he caught sight of someone in the crowd.

Were his eyes playing tricks on him?

* * *

He had lain in the grass the entire night before and hadn't been bothered by the cold. But, somehow after Kyoyama Anna barged into his peace, he suddenly felt very cold. Even though no one was around, various voices that weren't his own began crowding his mind, vying for his attention.

_That's something that I can't answer for you._

_Everyone has different opinions, and they can change._

Hoshi didn't want to pay attention to those voices. He folded his arms behind his head as he tried to count the tiny dots of wavering light.

_Once you trust, you have no need of the power anymore._

_Why don't you try to stop doubting everyone?_

Disturbed, he retracted his hands. When he discovered that he had lost count, he turned to his side.

_Now that you know my name, we aren't strangers anymore!_

_You should cut your hair or else they'll think you're a girl!_

He closed his eyes, feeling the soft grass below him, soft grass that was softer than any mattress he had ever slept on. He turned again, this time searching for the moon among the stars. He easily spotted the bright yet pale moon.

_If he goes straight to graduate school..._

_...he wouldn't be able to experience a childhood!_

He watched the moon, mesmerized. The moon hung in the dark sky among the infinite sea of stars. It was the child of the night sky, same as the tiny, twinkling stars.

_Hoshi, would you like to take on my name? _

_Be sure to come later...I need you there._

He sat up with a jolt.

_...I need you there._

They needed him.

They needed him, the boy who was lost about his own identity.

They needed him, the boy who was confused about what to think.

They needed him, the boy who had foolishly ran away from home.

They needed him, the boy who was both a son and a brother.

They needed him.

And he needed them in return.

_Go back to your damn duties!_

Hoshi shook his head at that last thought. Did it matter that he was somewhat psycho, after all, he could hear other people's thoughts, that he was a murderer, and that he used to think that every human deserved to die?

Probably not.

Even the person he had killed had come to his dreams three times to push him along the right track. It was only in the third dream that the other Hoshi had become impatient enough to clearly tell him what was on his mind.

He pushed himself off the ground and brushed off the blades of loose grass.

Kyoyama was such an optimistic at the core.

Try to trust, was it?

Was it really okay to forget the past? Was it really okay to let them embrace him, one who was unworthy of their love?

Try to trust...

It was worth a shot.

Hoshi turned towards the direction Anna left in and stared. How long had he taken to sort through his thoughts? How far had Anna walked already? He was suddenly seized with a thought. It was the only thought on his mind now.

He didn't have any money.

No money meant no train ticket.

He stopped staring and ran. He ran as fast as he could. If he didn't catch up with her, he was going to be stranded in Shibuya forever! His stomach grumbled. His body was protesting for not being fed for the entire day and still having to do strenuous work.

When he heard the "mew" next to him, he felt like smacking himself for forgetting about his shamanic powers, but he refrained from doing so or else he would have wasted precious time.

"Hoshisuke! Hyou Gattai!"

He held Hoshisuke, who was in spirit ball mode, and let him merge into his body. He glowed an unearthly orange as a pair of twitching ears appeared on his head and a long tail curled behind him.

Thanks to Hoshisuke's athletic abilities, he was able to dash through Shibuya at an abnormal speed. He wasn't worried about people seeing him with cat ears. After all, only shamans would see them.

If he had paused to think, he would have remembered that he still had Manta's credit cards, so he wouldn't be stranded technically...but he was too caught up in the moment to think correctly.

And so he ran.

"...look." Kalim pointed at the dashing, orange figure.

Silva blinked as he put down one of their crafts.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

Kalim shook his head.

"Am I dreaming then?"

Kalim instantly pulled on Silva's cheeks.

"Ouch!"

Silva rubbed his cheeks, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"So I really am seeing Hao...I mean _Hoshi_...dashing through the crowded streets with a pair of cat ears and a cat tail?"

Kalim nodded.

Silva couldn't help it any longer.

He burst out laughing.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to come out at night to sell their crafts after all. And he could finally see why Goldva-sama had believed that the former Hao had changed. After seeing THAT scene, Silva had no choice but to believe the same.

Maybe, he could finally place his complete trust in the Great Spirits' will, as he should have from the start.

* * *

Yoh didn't expect to see her here in Shibuya.

"A-Anna? What are you doing here?"

She, apparently, was equally as surprised to see him in Shibuya.

"Yoh, the question is, what are YOU doing here?"

Neither of them answered the other's question.

After a long pause in which they tried to stare each other down searching for the answer, Anna finally spoke again.

"She told you."

It was a statement, not a question.

"What?"

Exasperated, Anna stated again, this time more forcibly, "She told you!"

Yoh felt confused.

"Who told me what?"

Anna blinked, immediately realizing that she had made a wrong assumption. She hastily muttered, "Never mind what I said."

Yoh, wasn't that unobservant as to miss that Anna was hiding something. Did she know that Hoshi was here in Shibuya? Was that why she was here? If so, why hadn't she told him?

"You never answered my first question," murmured Anna.

Yoh, knowing that he wouldn't ever be able to force an answer out of Anna, decided to let her have her way once again, although he didn't know how she was going to react to his words.

"This young man came to our inn. He saw me and thought that I was really familiar. When I was telling him his room number, he finally remembered why I looked familiar. It was because he had met Hoshi. On his way to Shibuya. That's why I'm here."

Anna didn't say anything during Yoh's little explanation, but her eyes suddenly widened.

"Who's taking care of the inn then?"

Yoh blinked. She hadn't said anything about Hoshi or asked anything about the young man. Rather, she wanted to know about the state of her inn? That was...so like his Anna.

"Who's taking care of the inn?" repeated Anna urgently.

"Hey, don't worry. Tamao is."

Anna calmed down, or at least she calmed down enough to pull Yoh back into the station.

"Er...Anna? I just got here."

"Have you finished the earrings?" asked Anna.

"Um...no, but what does that have to do with anyth-"

"**The train will be departing in one minute. Repeat, the train will be departing in one minute. Please stay clear of the doors when they close."**

Yoh was flabbergasted when Anna searched through his pockets and pulled out his ticket. She inserted it into the slot for him. The gate opened, and she pushed him through it. She then proceeded to insert her own ticket into the slot.

It all happened so quickly that Yoh didn't have enough time to protest further. Somehow, he ended up back on the train, on the return trip home.

He had come to Shibuya to find his brother! What was he doing sitting down in one of the compartments, well on his way back to Funbari? He stood up, about to jump through the closing doors.

Anna pulled him back.

"Yoh, he'll come. On his own."

Yoh reluctantly sat back down.

He was surprised when a warm hand slid into his, but soon after he relaxed and leaned closer to his Anna.

"Don't worry," she murmured.

Yoh closed his eyes, letting his fiancée's rare, soothing words wash over him.

"Just finish the earrings okay? You know you want to be able to give them to him as a gift when he comes back."

Yoh nodded, instantly noting that Anna had said "when" and not "if."

It was too bad that Hoshi didn't know how much Anna trusted him to come to his senses, or at least how much she trusted her own words to have affected him. He could have saved himself from running to the station on an empty stomach.

When he got there, the train had already departed.

And the blond-haired girl was no where in sight.

Was he really stranded in Shibuya then? Or was he supposed to walk that entire distance by foot?

If this was Kyoyama's idea of "it being all up to him," he didn't like it one bit.

His stomach growled LOUDLY in protest.


	41. A Warm Homecoming

When Manta headed over to Funbari Onsens for dinner that night after his long cram school session, he was unprepared for the scene he met.

Sitting at the dinner table as if it was nothing out of the ordinary was none other than Asakura Hoshi, the once pyromaniac freak who had lost his memory, turned out to be a genius, and ran away from home.

"Hoshi?" exclaimed Manta out of shock.

The boy didn't pause in his eating, only holding up a hand in greeting.

Manta suddenly noticed that there was a stack of plates at least a foot high next to Hoshi.

Sora was busily refilling Hoshi's bowl. Manta turned to her, wondering why she wasn't freaking out like he was.

"Oh, hi, Oyamada-san," greeted Sora. "Would you like some dinner too?"

Manta nodded numbly, pulling out a chair and sitting down without realizing what he was doing.

Sora quickly grabbed a bowl for him and filled it up. She almost dropped it when a bundle of energy darted past her, spinning her to the side.

"Oh my gosh! Hoshi-niichan!" Tsuki's young voice rang throughout the room as he threw himself at the older boy. Hoshi quickly dropped his chopsticks, in case he killed himself with them.

"Hello to you too," murmured Hoshi, quickly swallowing.

"Why did you leave? Where did you go? Why didn't you tell us anything?" asked Tsuki all at once.

"Well, I went to Shibuya...it was a very interesting place. I'm not sure why I went and why I didn't tell you anything. Maybe it's because I'm very stupid?" said Hoshi wryly.

Tsuki laughed, his happiness radiating throughout the room. "You're silly, Hoshi-niichan? How can you be stupid?"

Hoshi chuckled along with Tsuki.

"Okay, maybe I'm not stupid then. I'm silly."

Manta, still shocked, brought his chopsticks to his mouth. He couldn't believe his eyes. For one, Hoshi was sitting in Funbari Onsens at the dinner table after his disappearing act. They had search high and low for him, and he just appeared like that, on his own? And two, he was laughing and joking as if nothing had happened.

What the heck?

* * *

When Anna and Yoh finally opened the door to Funbari Onsens, they were greeted by one Tamamura Tamao.

"Welcome to Funba—oh! Yoh-sama and Anna-sama! W-welcome back!" Tamao smiled shyly, her eyes darting away from them.

"Hi, Tamao," greeted Yoh.

His greeting brought a blush to the pink-haired girl.

"Ano..." ventured Tamao, unsure if she should continue her words.

Anna raised her eyebrow, indicating for Tamao to go on.

The shy girl held one hand against herself, her eyes lowered, as she pointed towards the direction of the dining room for employees.

"He's back."

Anna and Yoh didn't wait for Tamao to say anything else. They immediately dashed to the dining room.

Though they knew Tamao would never lie to them, they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw Hoshi sitting at the dinner table, happily eating dinner with Sora, Tsuki, and Manta. For Anna, it was hard to believe, because hadn't she just talked to him in Shibuya? How in the world had he gotten here faster than her?

Tsuki was the first to spot them, his already dancing eyes lighting up even more.

"Yoh-niisan! Meet Hoshi-niichan!"

Hoshi, who had been deep in conversation with Sora, turned around, his eyes briefly crossing Anna's before locking on with Yoh's.

He smiled.

And Yoh felt himself being flooded with relief.

* * *

"Explain." That was the first word Anna said when they joined the dinner table.

Hoshi raised an eyebrow.

"Explain what?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Don't be so daft. Explain. How in the world did you get here before us?"

"No thanks to you, obviously."

Anna frowned at his insult, but she just jabbed her food with her chopsticks as she glared at him to continue.

"Well, if you really want to know, I was going to run here-"

Yoh suddenly cut in. "Wait, you ran all the way here from Shibuya?"

Hoshi laughed, causing Yoh to smile sheepishly in return.

"No, but I was seriously contemplating doing so. I mean...I ran all the way to the station, only to find that you had left already," at this point, Hoshi returned Anna's glare before smiling again, "and I had no money left on me. I really didn't have much choice...it was either run here, find some way to get some money, or try to find someone to take me here. I took the third choice."

Tsuki giggled. "Yay! A story."

Hoshi shook his head. "Not a very flattering story."

"So who took you here then?" asked Manta. "And wait, you have no money left? You mean you spent all that I had in my wallet?"

Hoshi continued his story to answer Manta's first question. "Well, a few days ago I met Macchi at this restaurant. I really didn't want to go back there, but seeing that I had no choice, I went anyway. I asked her if she could take me here, but she didn't really have a way to do that. Then she asked me why I wanted to come here...and I said..."

"What did you say?" asked Tsuki eagerly.

Hoshi didn't blush, but he did try to hide his face with his hands.

"...I said that I wanted to go to school...and that I wanted...to come home."

There was a brief silence before Tsuki hugged Hoshi. Sora's smile widened as well.

"Aw, so you did miss me, Hoshi-niichan! But eww, why would you ever want to go to school?"

Hoshi laughed as he tried prying Tsuki off of his right hand so that he could continue eating.

"Yeah, I'm just silly like that, remember? Anyway, Macchi laughed her head off before telling me that she'd ask around the restaurant to see if anyone could drive me here. She finally grabbed hold of some waiter that I don't know the name of and he drove me here. His driving was crazy. I thought that I was going to fall out of the car."

Hoshi shook his head.

"Oh Manta, to answer your second question..."

Hoshi rummaged through his pocket before throwing Manta's empty wallet on the table.

"Sorry about that."

Hoshi then continued eating.

Manta almost cried when he held up the flat wallet. So that was the true reason why Hoshi was back!

He was...

Out of money.

* * *

That night, while Tamao was drying the dishes with Sora, she shyly asked Sora why she wasn't surprised at Hoshi's sudden appearance.

Sora smiled before replying.

"I believed in him."

She had doubted before, but his nephews and his friends had convinced her otherwise. That was when she decided to throw out reason, to follow her feelings instead. She was glad that she did so. Explanations and plans for the future, including contacting her parents, would come later, but for now, it was enough that Hoshi was home.

They continued washing dishes contently without another word.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hoshi led Tsuki to bed, for the little boy had finally exhausted his overabundance of energy due to Hoshi's return. When Hoshi finished tucking Tsuki in, he got up and stood next to Tsuki's bed, lingering there, gazing at his adopted little brother. Tsuki's face, usually adorned with a wide smile and shining eyes and sometimes even with a frown and sad, droopy eyes, was now smoothed into an expression of peace. Hoshi wondered how Tsuki was able to show emotion so easily. With Tsuki, Hoshi knew he didn't have to know his thoughts to know what was on the little boy's mind.

Hoshi blinked.

Tsuki must trust him a lot to be able to feel so comfortable around him.

Could he, in return, trust Tsuki and Sora as much as they trusted him?

He glanced at Tsuki one last time before turning around to leave the room. When he slid open the door to the hallway, he was unsurprised to find Yoh, who he had been mistaken for countless times, leaning against the wall, standing there, waiting for him.

"He's asleep?" asked Yoh.

Hoshi nodded.

"Oh...so early. I was hoping that we could give you something together," said Yoh as he watched Hoshi close the door behind him.

"um..." Yoh continued, a bit uncertain now that Hoshi's full attention was on him. Sometimes, he felt as if he knew his brother through and through, most likely due to the fact that at one point, they had been the same person. At other times, he felt as if he didn't know his brother at all. Like right now...it was as if a stranger stood before him. Tsuki was whom Hoshi would call his brother. They understood each other and were able to joke around with each other so easily. If Tsuki was Hoshi's brother, then, what was he?

Yoh was relieved though. He was happy...no, not just happy, but ecstatic to know that Hoshi was truly able to smile. Hao hadn't been able to do that. Mischievous smiles, yes, mocking smiles, yes, even torturous smiles too. But he had never seen a genuine, happy smile on the other's face until now.

Yoh quickly got over his apprehension.

"Um, could you come to my room for a bit? I want to show you what we've been working on."

"Sure."

Together, they headed towards Yoh's room. On the way, Yoh asked Hoshi about his stay in America and Hoshi recounted his peaceful nature-watching with Tsuki under the blue skies and the glimmering nights. Yoh pictured the peacefulness of the countryside with Hoshi and Tsuki laying amidst the tall grasses. He wished he could have been there too.

They arrived at Yoh's room before they knew it. Yoh didn't bother to turn on the lights, letting the moonlight from the slits of his window fall into his room. He also made sure that Hoshi's back was turned to him before he started rummaging through his desk.

While waiting, Hoshi glanced around the parts of the room that he could see in the dark without turning around. The room was pretty bare, though that didn't immediately signify orderliness. The white walls were plastered with a few scattered posters of some guy singer that he didn't recognize and the ground was littered with orange peels and empty bags of potato chips.

_Beep. Beep._

Hoshi's ears twitched.

"What's that noise?"

Yoh absentmindedly replied, "What noise?"

_Beep. Beep. Beeeeep._

Hoshi's eyes trailed around the room, his ears telling him that the noise was coming from the right.

_Beep. Beep._

When he approached the corner of the room, he wondered how he could have missed seeing the bright orange device that was glowing and beeping. He grabbed it and held it out for Yoh to see, forgetting about Yoh's orders to "not turn around."

"This."

Yoh glanced up.

His eyes widened.

He shoved his drawer shut and closed the distance between him and Hoshi in what felt like a millisecond.

Hoshi backed up, wondering what Yoh was doing.

"Wha-"

Not noticing Hoshi's confusion, Yoh stared at the beeping orange device in Hoshi's hand.

"The Oracle Bell...is ringing?"


	42. Calling All Shamans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote Goldva as a woman, but then someone told me I got Goldva wrong, hence why I changed Goldva's gender (of course, afterwards, someone else told me Goldva is female). I actually hadn't had time to check the manga or anime again at the time I was writing this...and my memory is spotty. I apologize if I still have Goldva wrong. One day, I'll get Goldva right.
> 
> I've now edited Goldva's gender again. Should be right now!

The old woman known as Goldva-sama to all of Patch Village stood in front of the assembled crowd. She put up a hand to stop their murmuring.

"The Great Spirits have spoken."

The murmuring began again, but stopped when Goldva-sama continued.

"It is time."

* * *

He tapped his pencil against his mouth, thinking about what to write next. Occasionally, he jotted down a few words as they came to him. Holding the thin novel open in his left hand, the green-haired boy quickly wrote down the next line in his English essay.

"Marlow's journey represents that as he goes deeper into the jungle, he is stripped of the conceptions laid upon him by civilization and he begins to realize things about society and himself..."

He put the book down, grabbing his notes instead. He flipped through them, searching them for the things that he had jotted down while reading. He felt his eyes burn as they darted over his tiny handwriting. Blinking hard and then closing his eyes, the English boy leaned backwards against his swiveling chair, letting his arm drop to his side. He then opened his eyes and glanced out of his window at the bright blue sky.

While he enjoyed mysteries, this was one novel that he did not find amusing, despite the enormous mystery that lay underneath the story. A book about a man journeying farther and farther away from humanity and discovering the evil that lay within...it reminded him strangely of himself and the X-Laws. It reminded him that without their fancy costumes and their so-called justice, the X-Laws were just as despicable as Hao had been.

In the end, they were all the same.

He sighed.

Why was he thinking about this again? That was all in the past. Now, he was just a normal boy going to school in London, reading disturbing books about man's morality in English class.

Something pink fluttered next to him, coming to rest on his shoulders.

He stopped staring out the window, giving his spirit a smile.

"Okay, okay Morphine! I'll get back to my essay."

Lyserg Diethel picked up his pencil and resumed brainstorming.

His Oracle Bell was stashed away in his drawer, untouched for the past year.

When it began ringing, he dropped his pencil in surprise.

* * *

A tall man picked up a beaten doll with dirty blond hair, a stitched-up face, bulging eyes, thick boots, a deadly gun in one hand, and a strange electronic device strapped to its other arm. He raised his eyebrow as he addressed the girl in the spaghetti-strapped black dress who had her back to him.

"This doll is kinda weird...but I think my little sister might like it."

The girl whirled around, her black ribbons whipping around with her. She fixed her expressionless face on the man.

"Chuck is Mari's. How dare this strange man touch Mari's doll. There are plenty of other dolls in Mari's store. Yet he picked up Mari's favorite. Mari should kick him out of the store for daring to touch Chuck."

The man sweatdropped, hastily putting down the freakish doll.

The blond-haired girl snatched Chuck away from the man and shoved a doll with curly blond hair, frilly ribbons, and a puffy, light blue dress into the man's hand.

"Mari thinks Mari's customer's sister will like Dorothy better."

The man blinked, looking at the raggedy doll in his hand.

"Uh...I guess so."

"Mari is never wrong."

The man quickly paid the girl and left the store, not wanting to deal with the girl who was even stranger than the weird doll she held in her hands. He was never going to step into that store again.

Marion Phauna held Chuck out in front of her.

"Mari wonders if that man hurt Chuck."

If the tall man had still been in the store, he would have ran out screaming at the sight he would have seen.

The so-called doll shook its head.

"Good. Mari is glad."

The girl was about to put Chuck down when she noticed something strange about the Oracle Bell that was strapped to Chuck.

"Look at that, Mari's Oracle Bell is glowing."

* * *

The dark-skinned, wide-lipped boy grinned wildly. He tugged on his suit, letting the spot light warm him.

"And now for the last joke!"

He held out his hand, a large, squishy yellow star appearing out of nowhere.

"Hoshi ga hoshii desu! Pun intended."

The small crowd cheered, and Chocolove grinned. He threw out star-shaped confetti.

There was a loud "beeeep," and the audience hushed, waiting for Chocolove's next joke.

He blinked. That beep wasn't part of his show! Shrugging his concern off, Chocolove continued grinning.

"Please leave a message after the beep! Bye! See you next time!"

Usually, he stayed behind to bask in the praise that people gave him, but this time he hurried backstage. The beeping was getting louder.

He rummaged through the boxes, finally pulling out his Oracle Bell.

* * *

The man held the glowing women's hand dearly, his eyes staring into hers. Both of them gave off an air of happiness and love. The man's purple-glossed lips were turned upwards in a loving smile. The woman's eyes were shinning with compassion. The lone glass of wine stood forgotten on their table.

"Eliza," whispered the man.

"Faust," replied the woman.

"Eliza..."

"Faust..."

_Beep._

"Eliza..."

"Faust..."

"Eliza..."

_Beep. Beep._

"Faust...do you hear that?"

"Eliza? Of course I hear your lovely voice."

He pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, Faust..." whispered the woman.

"Eliza..."

"Faust..."

"Eliza..."

When the restaurant manager tried to throw the strange couple out of the restaurant, he didn't even manage to stop them from saying "Eliza" and "Faust" over and over. Giving up, he locked the couple inside of the restaurant for the night.

* * *

"Hey, pass the cinnamon, will ya?" asked a girl wearing an apron.

He reached out with his long arms, easily reaching the top shelf. He grabbed the cinnamon and handed it to his fellow student.

"Thanks!" The girl smiled brightly, proceeding to sprinkle the cinnamon over her apple pie.

His heart soared at the sight of the girl's smile. She was too cute for her own good! Ryu watched, entranced, as the girl wiped the white flour from her forehead with the back of her hand, only to smudge more flour over herself. She giggled when Ryu offered her a napkin.

Coming to the culinary academy was heaven.

He stared at her, his heart quickening when she turned her eyes on him. Was she...Did she feel the same way about him as he felt about her?

"Ryu-san, um...I smell something funny."

Ryu's heart fell as he sniffed the air.

"Hm...I do too."

He glanced around, noticing in alarm that smoke was coming out of his oven. He quickly turned it off, hastily throwing on his oven mittens and pulling his oven open. He coughed when the black smoke drifted out threateningly. Damn, he shouldn't have let his attention wander. Now, he made a fool of himself in front of her again.

He was moping as he dumped his fried apple pie into the trash when he heard the beeps from his Oracle Bell.

* * *

He slid out from underneath the car, the wrench in his right hand as he wiped the sweat from his face. His clothes were splattered with oil, and his glasses weren't in any better condition. He wandered over to his cluttered desk, picking up a tissue to wipe his glasses clean.

The door opened in a slight crack, an innocent eye peeping from behind.

"Are you done?"

The man sighed as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I thought I told you not to come here. It's too dirty here."

The girl pushed the door open, revealing her white petticoat dress with black lacing. She smiled widely, despite the man's stern expression.

"I wanted to bring you lunch, Marco."

"It's not necessary, Jeanne-sama."

"But, you've always been taking care of me. This is the least I could do for you."

Unable to argue with the girl, Marco placed his wrench with his other tools and began eating lunch with Jeanne.

When two, loud beeps resonated throughout the garage, both held up their Oracle Bells in wonder.

* * *

Shamans from all over the world who had participated in the Shaman Fight stopped in their daily activities to stare at their Oracle Bells. Tao Ren dropped his black kitten when Horo Horo ran into his room, waving his beeping Oracle Bell in front of his face. Ren grabbed his own Oracle Bell, which had started beeping too, yet Horo Horo continued waving his Oracle Bell in front of the Chinese boy. Ren, who was now pissed, yelled, "Kisama! I'm not deaf!"

Kanna Bismarche dropped her fork in the middle of eating, hastily mumbling, "Igottago" to the handsome German man who sat across from her. Macchi dropped another pitcher of water, this time splattering it over some unknown customer. Opacho tugged on her caretaker's arm, telling her adopted mother that she needed to confirm something. Peyote, who was singing "A Dios Le Pido," broke one of his guitar strings. Zen and Ryo from BoZ paused in their wild singing, staring with their jaws on the floor, before continuing singing as if nothing had happened. Zang Ching, who was feeding his panda Shion Shion, accidentally snapped the bamboo in his hands in half. Bigguy Bill, who was playing football with his team, threw the football too hard and knocked down his own teammate. Pino and Zria skidded to a stop on the frozen lake, Cadimahide soon running into them. Anatel dropped his chisel from evacuating the pyramid. With a questioning look, Seyrarm held out her ringing Oracle Bell to her brother Redseb, who was surprised that Seyrarm was even able to look "questioning."

All in all, shamans over the entire world were confused.

Was the Shaman Fight resuming? They hadn't heard anything about it for the past year. They assumed that the Shaman Fight had ended without a Shaman King being chosen.

How wrong all of them were.

Ren cursed as he read what was on the screen. "Important announcement. Press B to scroll."

"Where the heck is B?" screamed some other shaman on the other side of the world.

After finding the B button, they scrolled through the long text, finally reaching the bottom of it before disbelief rang through the air.

"Whaaaat?" they screamed in unison...or almost in unison.

At Funbari Onsens, the only Shaman Fight participant there who still had his Oracle Bell had uttered a similar exclamation of surprise. Hoshi blinked at Yoh's incredulous face.

"What's wrong?"

Yoh shook his head, unable to speak.

Hoshi plucked the Oracle Bell, as Yoh had called it, out of Yoh's hand, turning it towards himself so that he could read what was on it.

Slowly, he read the black text that appeared on the screen word by word as he scrolled through it by pressing the B button.

"The."

"Shaman."

"King."

"Has."

"Been."

"Chosen."

He raised his eyebrow, wondering what all the fuss was about, before taking Yoh's hand and giving the Oracle Bell back to him.


	43. Shaman King

Chirp. Chirp Chirp.

Eleven people sat around the rectangular dining table with quite comical expressions on their faces. Seven pairs of eyes stared in disbelief at the two men sitting at the end of the table. One pair of eyes was wide in confusion, and the last pair was raised in questioning.

That last pair belonged to Hoshi.

Hoshi had his eyebrow raised at the two men wearing cloaks, feathers and other fancy stuff. When the Oracle Bell had begun ringing, these two men had suddenly appeared at the doorstep of Funbari Onsens. Hoshi vaguely remembered seeing them in Shibuya...and the fact that they had come to Funbari Onsens could only mean that they had been stalking him. He was spot on in his reasoning. Right after these two men sat down, they told everyone their absurd reasoning for keeping an eye on him.

He found their reason hard to believe.

"Let me get this straight," said Hoshi quietly. "You're telling me that I've been chosen to become the Shaman King?"

Silva and Kalim both nodded resolutely.

There was a painful silence as those seated around the table were forced to take in the news now that it was confirmed.

Ren was the first to react. He slammed his hand down on the dining table, forcibly breaking the silence as the china plates tinkered dangerously near the edge.

"I so do not agree with that decision," said Ren as calmly as he could, though his golden eyes were flashing. He pointed his finger at Hoshi. "He used to be a manipulative bastard. Okay, I know that he was the strongest shaman. But now he's just a boy who lost his memory. How in the world did he get chosen as the next Shaman King when all he did differently in the past week was run away from home?"

Hoshi frowned at being pointed at accusingly, though he didn't say anything in retort. He was wondering along the same lines, though he wouldn't call himself a "manipulative bastard."

Horo Horo nodded, completely agreeing with Ren's words. Anna was fuming, wondering the same thing as well. Hoshi had stolen the position of Shaman King away from Yoh, throwing all of their hard training down the drain. She had even gone out of her way to make him come home! Yoh watched everything blankly, now that his initial shock had subsided. Anna was so going to scold him, as he had just lost his dream of becoming Shaman King and living a lazy life. Sora had her hands clenched in front of her, dreading where this conversation was heading. Tsuki stood behind her, not understanding what everyone meant by "Shaman King." Tamao glanced worriedly at Yoh, wondering what he was thinking. Manta looked towards the table, wondering how a world governed by Hoshi would be.

"Yes," said Silva, answering Hoshi's question. He took a sip out of the tea cup that Sora had placed in front of him before continuing. "Actually, the decision about who was to be the next Shaman King was made last year."

Anna frowned. "Impossible...if the decision was made last year, why didn't you announce it then instead of waiting until now? A year of delay is a bit too much." A year of false hope, no less!

Silva shrugged. "The Great Spirits had chosen Hao as the Shaman King ever since Hao fought alongside the Great Spirits against all of you."

Yoh blinked, remembering how the Spirit of Fire had devoured the Great Spirits. Hao had seemed undefeatable, yet Yoh had continued fighting against him. In the end, they had met in a large flash. Of course, he was oversimplifying their final battle, but when Hao had disappeared, he had thought that it was all over.

He was clearly wrong.

Silva continued. "After all, Hao was, and still is, the strongest shaman. The Great Spirits knows this, especially since the Spirit of Fire has been Hao's companion for 500 years. The Spirit of Fire knows Hao's strength very well."

"But..." whispered Horo Horo in a strangled voice. "How can the Great Spirits accept a murderer as the caretaker of the entire world? I can't imagine what he would have done to the koropokkuru. I bet he wouldn't have cared about them!" Hoshi's eyebrow twitched. That blue-haired ainu was talking as if he wasn't even there.

Kalim smiled, making everyone jump back at the sudden expression on his stern face. "Good question."

Silva sweatdropped but nodded. "Yes, good question. Well, the Great Spirits knows that as well, so the Great Spirits gave Hao a test. The Great Spirits would only accept him if he passed the test."

Hoshi glanced at Silva sharply, his discontent with Horo Horo flying out of his mind. His throat felt dry and constricted. His heart was having a hard time beating regularly.

It couldn't be...

Silva locked his eyes with Hoshi's.

"The Great Spirits gave you another chance to prove that you can live a normal life just like everyone else. And so..."

Hoshi had an inkling where the conversation was heading, but he didn't want to believe it.

"...the Great Spirits took away your memory to test you."

Silence.

Dropped jaws.

Wide eyes.

Those were the reactions of all the other people around the table, but for Hoshi, his reaction was different. He wasn't liking this conversation at all. He slowly shook his head in denial.

"That can't be possible. I was the one who sealed away my own memories. I created a stupid barrier around my mind and messed up on it...that's why..." Even as he was saying it, he knew how futile it sounded.

Silva shrugged. "That's probably why you never gained your memories back, but that wasn't the source of your amnesia."

Hoshi laughed strangely, earning him confused and scared looks from a few of the people sitting around the table. He, who Ren had oh-so-nicely called a "manipulative bastard," had his memories stripped by the Great Spirits without his consent. He, who was the strongest shaman in the entire world, had his mind tweaked until he became a weak, confused boy who couldn't even remember his own name. What had he been living such a confused life for? He had thought that maybe his amnesia had come from regret or some kind of blunder that he made, but it turned out that it had all been the Great Spirits' doing! He had been manipulated, played like a pawn for the sake of the Great Spirits.

He turned icy eyes towards Silva, a dangerous smile adorning his face. "So? What makes you guys bring this up now?"

Silva rolled his eyes, clearly trying to ignore Hoshi's icy glare. "Now here's the cheesy part. I'd rather not say it, but it's my job, and Kalim doesn't seem up to it." Silva looked at Kalim disapprovingly before clearing his throat.

"Well, we've seen that you learned about familial love." At this, Silva glanced in the direction of Sora and Tsuki. Hoshi followed Silva's gaze, his smile slipping a bit.

"And you've gained a few friends." Silva nodded his head in Manta's direction. When Hoshi glanced in Manta's direction, the short boy held his stare firmly. Hoshi found out that he couldn't direct his glare at Manta. It wasn't Manta who he was angry with.

"You now have a loyal spirit who follows you willingly, who is more a friend than a servant." Hoshisuke mewed, floating around Hoshi. The small orange cat nudged Hoshi's hand until Hoshi looked down, his eyes softening. He began scratching behind Hoshisuke's ears.

"Your enemies have begun to accept you." Anna, Horo Horo, and Ren all looked away quickly, refusing to admit that in front of everyone. Hoshi almost wanted to chuckle at their actions.

"You've begun to question your old beliefs..."

Hoshi thought back to Shibuya, to how he wandered around the streets, searching for an answer to his own question.

"And you have started to trust," ended Silva.

Hoshi blinked. Had he? Had he started to trust?

Hoshi glanced in Sora's direction, his eyes trailing towards Tsuki who was clutching Sora's apron. His eyes strayed towards Yoh, who gave a tentative smile.

He realized suddenly that he trusted these three people more than anything. He knew why he trusted Sora and Tsuki. It hadn't been something that came to him easily. It had taken him months to learn to trust his two caring family members. But Yoh...he had just met Yoh...yet he trusted him immediately.

Maybe it was because...

He had truly learned how to trust.

Was that why his mind was free of other people's thoughts at the moment?

Was he supposed to feel thankful to the Great Spirits for taking away his memory and giving him the chance to learn how to trust instead?

Hoshi glanced back at Silva, who still had more to say.

"The Great Spirits deem you suitable to become the Shaman King."

"You have passed."

* * *

The shamans from all over the world continued staring in disbelief at what was showing up on their Oracle Bell.

"The Shaman King as been chosen."

They continued scrolling.

"He is known as Asakura Hoshi."

When everyone began cursing and wondering who the heck Hoshi was, more words appeared on the Oracle Bell.

"Please press Z to change to the description screen if you do not know who Asakura Hoshi is and why he has been chosen to become Shaman King."

They fumbled to find the Z button. When they found it, they pressed it hurriedly.

Many of them dropped their Oracle Bells in shock when they read that Asakura Hoshi was whom they had known as "Hao."

Was their world coming to an end?

The few shamans who bothered to read to the end of the description knew otherwise, even though they were skeptical of what the Oracle Bell claimed. Hao was now a changed person? Yeah right!

Many of them ripped out some paper and started writing letters of complaints furiously. Others grabbed their phones and tried dialing the hotline for Patch, after finding the number on their Oracle Bells.

* * *

Hoshi felt numb. He remembered waking up under the dark night sky, unable to move, unable to speak. He had no idea who he was, and all he could see were the dots of light in the sky. If Sora and Tsuki hadn't found him, he would probably have frozen to death. He remembered the time he spent with Tsuki playing around in the fields, and how Sora always called them in for dinner. He remembered their plane flight back to Japan and how he went to cram school and met Manta. He remembered those dreams about Tsuki's older brother, always reminding him that Hoshi wasn't his true name or identity. He remembered disovering his true name, discovering his past, and running away to Shibuya. He remembered meeting Macchi there, wondering if perhaps his old companions could enlighten him about what to believe in. He remembered Anna confronting him, telling him to trust, implying that he should return back to Sora and Tsuki. He remembered going back to Sora's rented house, only to see that she had left him a note there, telling him to find her at Funbari Onsens. He remembered tucking Tsuki in and walking with Yoh to his room. He remembered hearing the Oracle Bell ring...

Had everything that had happened to him in the past year only been a test?

He gazed at Sora, noticing her glistening eyes.

"Okaasan..." whispered Hoshi. The word escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

Sora blinked her eyes, smiling falteringly. "You're still calling me okaasan...I'm so happy."

Hoshi smiled in relief. "Of course I'm calling you okaasan. I'm the one who is happy that you are still willing to think of me as your son."

Sora nodded, unable to speak. She closed her eyes, willing herself to get a grip of her wavering emotions. When she felt that she had them under control, she opened her eyes to look at Hoshi.

"You're going to leave us again, aren't you?"

Hoshi's eyes widened at Sora's words. Tsuki, who had been holding his mother's hand, broke out of her grip and clung to Hoshi instead.

"Hoshi-niichan, what does 'kaachan mean? You can't be leaving! You just came back!"

"...I," Hoshi didn't know what to say. Did Sora want him to leave?

Sora stepped closer to him, grasping hold of his hand.

"It's a great honor to become the Shaman King. It's a great honor to be able to take care of the entire world. You would be a wonderful Shaman King. I...I'm thankful that the Great Spirits gave me a chance to know you." After she said those words, she reluctantly let go of his hands.

Hoshi gulped. What she said was true...if it hadn't been for the Great Spirits' stupid test, he would never have met Sora or Tsuki.

Hoshi looked down at Tsuki, slowly kneeling down to his height.

"Becoming the Shaman King means that I have to go to America," started Hoshi slowly. "And then...I'll have a lot of responsibilities. I don't know when I can be back."

Tsuki frowned.

"Then don't become Shaman King!"

The other shamans in the room frowned at Tsuki's outrageous suggestion. Who in their right minds would refuse to become Shaman King?

Hoshi shook his head sadly.

Despite his heart clenching at the betrayed look on Tsuki's face, Hoshi felt that he had to become Shaman King. He didn't know why he suddenly felt that he had to become the Shaman King. Was it because of some twisted reward he thought he ought to have as compensation for having his life manipulated? Was it because of some hidden desire to protect the world or something equally heroic? Was it his old memories threatening to resurface, making him remember his old goal of becoming the Shaman King? Was it because he felt an obligation to all of the people that he had murdered before? Was it because of Sora's pride in him, and her utter trust that he would be a good Shaman King? Or was it because he wanted to repay the Great Spirits for letting him meet Sora and Tsuki? Whatever the reason...he was going to become the Shaman King.

Tsuki pushed Hoshi away from him.

"I don't understand...I don't even know what the Shaman King is. What's a shaman anyway?"

Hoshi smiled slightly, thinking back about his stay with Sora and Tsuki in America.

"Remember that time when I saved you from falling off the tree?"

Tsuki's eyes widened.

"Well, I could do that because I'm a shaman."

Even though Tsuki didn't understand everything or anything that was going on, he grabbed his Hoshi-niichan and sobbed into his shirt.

* * *

After he said his goodbyes to Sora and Tsuki, Hoshi headed out with Silva and Kalim. The faster he went, the better.

However, Yoh stopped him at the door.

"I have something to say to you."

Silva and Kalim discreetly gave them their privacy. They walked further down the path, out of hearing range.

"What am I to you?" asked Yoh bluntly.

Yoh knew. He was Hoshi's brother, yet he wasn't. It was ironic that Tsuki would always be more of a brother to Hoshi than he ever would. While he loved the little boy as much as anyone else, he couldn't help but feel a bit left out.

Hoshi smiled at Yoh's apprehension.

"Silly Yoh."

Yoh blinked. He was silly?

Hoshi was in the act of pulling his hair into a ponytail as he said his next words.

"Why, you're me, of course."

Yoh's eyes widened. Hoshi's words felt like something Hao would have said. Hoshi continued speaking, regardless of Yoh's surprise.

"You will look after Sora and Tsuki for me, won't you?"

Yoh nodded slowly, before saying his next words. "Of course...but..."

Hoshi's smile widened.

"I'm not asking you to be a replacement. I just wanted to make sure that someone would be looking after them. And..."

Yoh looked up, wondering why Hoshi paused.

"...I just want you to be able to experience the life I wish I could lead," finished Hoshi

With that, Hoshi smiled wryly before walking away.

Yoh stared at Hoshi's retreating figure.

Farewells were always the hardest. He didn't like them at all. He felt bad for feeling this way, but he was actually glad that he hadn't become Shaman King. Despite his lost dream...despite Anna's disappointment...he liked his life the way it was now.

He looked at the open door, now void of Hoshi.

He realized that being the Shaman King was a lonely job.


	44. Patch

Hoshi was greeted by a short, aging woman who looked too cranky to be anyone's kind grandma. A group of men dressed the same way as Kalim and Silva were sitting behind her in a circle around a huge pile of...

He took a closer look.

Parchment? Paper? No wait...they were letters.

The men were sitting around a huge pile of letters. Every so often, one of the cloaked men would snatch an envelope, rip it open, read it through and throw it behind them without replying. He noticed that they made three stacks of letters. The left stack was huge, the middle stack somewhat less huge, and the last stack almost non-existent. It made him wonder how they were sorting the letters.

The old woman jumped straight into business without even introducing herself. "Since the process for you to become the Shaman King was almost completed last year, all you have to do this time is ask the Great Spirits to become your primary spirit."

Hoshi furrowed his eyebrows, a million questions springing to mind, like why the heck those men were crowding around a pile of letters instead of a campfire and who the heck was talking to him. He didn't even know her name. Instead of voicing these concerns, however, Hoshi just retorted, "What, am I supposed to just waltz up to the Great Spirits and say "Oh, Great Spirits! Become mine?"

Instead of laughing or ridiculing him for what he said, the old woman just shrugged. "That might work, actually."

Hoshi stared at her disbelievingly as she ushered him towards the location of the Great Spirits.

* * *

It was utterly quiet, standing there in front of the blinding light that was the Great Spirits. The old woman had left him alone, telling him this was a task that was not meant to be witnessed by anyone, except perhaps the future Shaman King's loyal spirit. Hoshisuke was Hoshi's only source of companionship at the moment.

He brought his hands up to shade his eyes from the blinding light, but his hands didn't seem to block the light at all.

The light was still blinding him.

It was eerily reminiscent of his last dream.

Feeling a bit overly cautious, he glanced around, as if the other Hoshi was going to jump out at him any moment. When he didn't see any sign of anyone else, Hoshi began walking.

He tried approaching the light, wondering if he was getting any closer. The light didn't seem to get any brighter, but Hoshi suspected that it probably wasn't able to get any brighter. When he felt that he was close enough, he whispered, "Great Spirits, I'm back." Somehow, it felt wrong to shout in such a quiet place.

Once those words left his mouth, Hoshi immediately threw his hands in front of him as the Great Spirits proved his earlier thought about not being able to get any brighter wrong by blasting his eyes with the brightest, most glaring light he had ever seen. The light whirled around him, enveloping him in the eye of the storm. His hair, tied in a loose ponytail, unfurled, the strands dancing crazily behind him, rising with the light. Hoshi took his hands away from his face, and watched the light swirl around him in wonder.

It didn't feel blinding anymore.

The light pulsated around him, feeling oddly warm to him, until a silvery figure broke away from the light, floating towards him.

Hoshi blinked, unable to trust his eyes. "I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked finally.

The silvery figure shook his head, exasperated. Even though the figure had always appeared dark and sullen in his dreams, he was anything but dark and sullen at the moment.

"I see that you finally came to your senses, haven't you?" asked the silvery figure sarcastically.

Hoshi gulped before nodding. "Is this what you meant by 'my duties?' When you told me that before, I thought that you might have been referring to Sora and Tsuki."

The silvery figure, otherwise known as one Asakura Hoshi, mind you, the ACTUAL Asakura Hoshi, the one who had been slain by one Asakura Hao, rolled his eyes. "I was referring to them, yes, but also to your duty as the future Shaman King."

Hoshi paused in thought, before asking yet another question. "Why are you here?"

The other, older Hoshi glared at the future Shaman King. "Because of you, obviously."

"What?" asked Hoshi sharply.

"I got eaten by the Spirit of Fire," replied the silvery figure glumly. "Now, I'm only one of the millions upon millions of spirits that make up the Great Spirits."

"...oh," replied Hoshi numbly.

"We've all been waiting for you, for over a year at that. You merged with us last year and we all decided that you were the only one with enough power to merge with all of us, yet you wouldn't have been able to do it because of other reasons. So we threw you out, hoping that you would be able to overcome that. We're all quite impatient for having to wait so long for you to come to your senses. Did my last visit finally wake you up?" asked the silvery figure snidely.

Hoshi didn't answer, still mulling over the silvery figure's earlier words. "Who else is in there with you?"

The other Hoshi shrugged. "Some spirits go way back. They're ancient. I don't know half of them. But among the newer ones, there are a few people who call themselves the X-Laws and some other people that I don't know that well."

Hoshi felt chilled. How was he going to be able to face so many dead spirits of people who used to be just as alive as he was?

Seeing the doubt on Hoshi's face, the silvery figure grabbed Hoshi's arms. When Hoshi tried to resist, the silvery figure snarled. "What are you waiting for? We've already had enough waiting to last us a few lifetimes."

Hoshi bit his lips. Was it really worth it? What responsibility did he have to the world? What obligation did he have to the Great Spirits?

His mind flashed back to when he had stumbled out of Macchi's co-worker's car in front of Sora's rented house. The nameless, overly-friendly co-worker had waved at him cheerfully, wishing him best-of-luck. He had then stepped on the accelerator and zoomed out of Hoshi's view, leaving Hoshi alone in front of the dark house. He hadn't thought much about the house being dark, since his mind was more worried about how Sora and Tsuki were going to react to him. Despite his worry, he finally made himself walk up to the door...only to find that Sora had left him a note on the door.

_We're waiting for you at Funbari Onsens. _

It was a simple note that explained nothing yet everything at the same time. He tore the note off of the door, and began running in the direction of the inn without another thought. It felt as if all that he had been doing that day was run. First it had been running towards the station after that blond-haired girl, and then it was running towards Funbari Onsens. Running was tiring, but he wasn't complaining about it because he knew that at the end of his running, if he were to collapse, Sora and Tsuki would be there for him.

When he finally opened the door to Funbari Onsens and was led in by a timid pink-haired girl, his stomach had growled embarrassingly. Sora, amused that the first thing she heard from Hoshi wasn't a greeting but rather his stomach growling, had quickly served him dinner with no words exchanged between them.

He smiled at the memory.

He would rather just stay at Funbari Onsens with his family...and forget this whole thing about being the Shaman King.

But Sora had made it clear that she hoped that he would become the Shaman King.

The idea of becoming the Shaman King stirred two different kinds of emotions in him. The easily identified one was anger. He was furious that the Great Spirits had toyed with his memories, sealing them away without his approval. The other emotion he was confused about. What was it? It was a feeling that made him want to fidget, even break into a small smile. It was a feeling that ignited a tiny spark of warmth in him, a tiny spark that spread through him slowly and gradually. It was a feeling that stirred up his inner turmoil, mixing them, making him even more confused. It was...gratefulness, merging with content. That seemed sort of right...he did feel grateful. He was angry, that was true, yet at the same time, the Great Spirits had helped him discover a family in Sora and Tsuki, and that was one huge favor that he would never be able to repay.

Why couldn't things ever be easy?

Nonetheless, he tried to clear his mind as he let the silvery figure pull him into the whirling light.

* * *

When he stumbled back into Patch village, he vaguely noticed they had finished sorting the letters into piles, the used-to-be-non-existent pile had grown a little bit, but not as much as the huge pile to the left. With nothing to do, most of the Patch men were waiting for him to say something. When his eyes landed on the old woman, he raised a hand in greeting.

"Yo, Goldva. Long time no see."

The old woman raised her eyebrow. "I don't believe I told you my name?"

He shrugged, not exactly answering her question as he sat down and grabbed the bowl that one of the Patch men had offered him. He was famished.

As he ate, he asked them what the piles of letters were for.

They hesitated, as if unsure whether or not they wanted to answer him, but when Goldva muttered "it's his problem," they reluctantly began explaining it to him.

One of them pointed at the extremely small pile of letters. "These are letters that are congratulating you on becoming the Shaman King." Those, no doubt, were from Hao's old, loyal followers.

They then pointed to the middle pile. "These are letters wondering how you are even alive."

Lastly, they pointed to the pile of letters that was humongous. "These are letters...um...condemning you for becoming the Shaman King. Some are pretty violent, asking us if we're all out of our minds...some aren't very open about it...but we still see their opposition..."

He waved his hand, indicating for them to stop. "I think I get the general gist of it. I'm glad to know that I'm so welcomed," he commented sarcastically. He was surprised that so many people were actually daring enough to send letters of complaint. They probably thought that he would never get to see them. Eying the pile of "complaints," he grabbed one to read as he continued eating. He unfolded the parchment in front of him. It was written in silver ink in narrow, cursive letters. Contrary to the somewhat elegant handwriting, the words crowded into the margins of the paper, almost falling off the page. The writer must have been in a hurry.

_Greetings to those of Patch Village who sponsored the Shaman Fight. _

_I trust that all of you are doing well. The past year has been very peaceful for me. I have started up quite a business, so I am fairly well off. That is, until the Oracle Bell started ringing-_he could see the bold writing waver a bit here-_the Oracle Bell's ringing wasn't that big of a deal, but what I saw next on the screen confirms my deep suspicions that all of you are smoking crack._ _Are you...ARE YOU ALL OUT OF YOUR MINDS? MAKING HAO THE SHAMAN KING? IT'S UNACCEPTABLE! HE'S THE VILEST SHAMAN OUT THERE, A HEARTLESS MURDERER, THE VERY IMAGE OF THE DEVIL! AND YOU ARE MAKING HIM OUR SHAMAN KING? I CANNOT ACCEPT ANYONE OTHER THAN JEANNE-SAMA BEING CHOSEN AS OUR LEADER!_

_With all that out in the open, I apologize for my rudeness, but I am being nothing but honest and straight-forward with my beliefs. I believe that this is a mistake and that once Hao receives the power of the Great Spirits, our world as we know it is forever doomed. I-_

The letter continued, but already bored with the redundancy of what he had read so far, he tossed the letter over his shoulder, back into the huge pile of complaints. He didn't even have to look at the signature to guess who that letter was from.

When he finished eating, he handed the bowl back to one of the men. When their hands touched, he raised his eyebrow. The person in front of him was more of a boy actually. Someone he recognized, no less.

He raised his eyebrow. "Nichrome? I didn't think that you were still alive.

The cloaked boy almost dropped the bowl. "Ha-Hoshi-sama, you still remember me?"

The Shaman King leaned back, stretching his arm, before he replied off-handedly, "Oh, I remember everything."

Now Nichrome truly did drop the bowl.

The shattering of the bowl was the only thing that could be heard in the silence that had suddenly engulfed Patch Village.

All of the Patch men plus Goldva stared at him; a few even took a step backwards. Finally, Goldva shook her head slowly, "I guess that wasn't entirely unexpected.

"Yeah, becoming the Shaman King does have its ups and downs doesn't it," replied the boy whose appearance showed nothing of his true age. "When I said I remember EVERYTHING, I meant everything about myself and everything about everyone else in the entire world. It's all in here." The Shaman King tapped his head.

He found Nichrome staring at him warily, wearing a similar expression as all the other people in Patch.

He smiled wryly. What he was about to say was probably only going to scare them more.

"I hate to say this, but I think it would be more suitable to call me Hao from now on. I am the Shaman King after all, as much as I fancy the name Hoshi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hao's name is Ha-o (the "o" meaning "king", hence why he said that "Hao" was a more suitable name for himself)


	45. Finale, the Star Among Us

Hoshi didn't come back.

Time passed in his absence.

Everyone resumed their normal lives. Tamao finally moved over to Funbari Onsens as she had planned. She took Tsuki to elementary school, allowing Yoh to get to school on time. Yoh continued attending school with Manta and Anna as if nothing had happened. When Tamao graduated from elementary school, she still insisted that she take Tsuki to elementary school. Ren went back to China with Jun, taking a black kitten along with them. Horo Horo returned back to Pirika. Sora continued cooking for the inn even when Ryu returned back from the culinary academy.

When Ryu had first seen Sora, he had produced a bunch of flowers out of nowhere, claiming that Sora was "beyond beautiful." Sora raised her eyebrows and laughed slightly when Anna slapped Ryu into oblivion.

"Don't you dare touch her," warned Anna.

Sora had thought that it was all very amusing. She then commented that she was too old for a nice boy like Ryu, which had made Manta snicker and Ryu blush madly for the rest of the night.

Nevertheless, life was mostly normal. Yoh and Tsuki finished the earrings the night Hoshi had left. Each of them carried one of the earrings around with them, hoping to be able to give it to Hoshi the moment he came back.

Yoh's grandparents and parents visited Funbari Onsens a few times, though they didn't know any more about Hoshi than the residents at Funbari Onsens knew.

Sometimes, Yoh wondered if "Hoshi" had only been a figment of his imagination. After all, he had only seen him for a few hours before he disappeared again.

He fingered the earring in his pockets as he walked to school.

* * *

Sora, though not much of a singer, hummed to herself while preparing lunch. She brushed her hair out of her face with the back of her hand while she leaned forward, squinting at the orders that one of the customers had made. The order was scribbled on a narrow white piece of paper that was tacked on the wall.

"Hm, curry bread? I don't think we serve that," she said to herself. She wondered why Ryu had written that order down when he knew that they never made curry bread. If the customer really wanted curry bread, then he or she would have to wait a long time, since Sora would have to make everything from scratch. Shrugging, she decided to make the best out of this weird situation.

A smile tugged at her lips as she went searching for the flour. If her memory served her right, she remembered how delighted Hoshi had been when she had made curry bread for first time. He had taken one bite out of it, before hurriedly finishing the whole thing and asking for more. She shook her head, her eyes dancing. That was actually one of the rare moments when Hoshi actually acted more like what his appearance implied—a growing boy.

After gathering the flour and other materials, she poured the flour into a large bowl and added some water. While she kneaded the dough, she heard the door open. It was probably Ryu, coming in with more orders and stopping by to help her. His footsteps were surprisingly light though.

Sora continued kneading the dough while she spoke. "This is the first time I've ever gotten an order for curry bread. It's going to take awhile, since I have to make everything from scratch. By the way, can you hand me the rolling pin?"

When she didn't hear him move, she assumed that he had forgotten where the rolling pin was.

"It's to the right next to the counter," offered Sora. Right after she said that, soft footsteps moved in that direction.

She paused in kneading the dough temporarily to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her hair seemed to like annoying her today. It kept escaping from her hair tie. She continued kneading the dough.

When the footsteps approached her and a hand offered her the rolling pin, she took it and placed it next to the bowl.

"Thanks, now do you want to help me with the bread or do you have more orde-" She had been turning around while she was saying this. The moment she finally saw who had actually handed her the rolling pin—it wasn't Ryu, as she had initially assumed-her question died on her lips.

An amused smile adorned the face of the boy who was standing across from her.

"Tadaima," he said.

"Okaerinasai," replied Sora immediately, a smile appearing on her face as well. She quickly wiped her hands on her apron and enveloped him in a hug. Since she was taller than him, his face was pressed against her shoulder as she said her next words. "Your curry bread is going to take a while. Why don't you go visit the others at school?"

She smiled as she said those words. She should have suspected that he was the one to place that order.

* * *

Tsuki stared at the paper in front of him as he fidgeted in his seat. His assignment was to write about a family member that he looked up to. The very first name that had popped up was, of course, Hoshi-niichan. But Tsuki wasn't sure if he should write about Hoshi-niichan, because Yoh-niisan might get sad knowing that he hadn't written about him. After all, it was Yoh-niisan who had looked after him ever since Hoshi-niichan had left to become Shaman Kingor whatever it was called. Tsuki sighed as he tried to decide who to write about. Yoh-niisan was very funny and more easy-going, but Hoshi-niichan was much more fun to tease and just kind of seemed cooler.

He frowned. He couldn't decide!

Absentmindedly, he took out Hoshi-niichan's earring that he had kept and fixed along with Yoh-niisan. That was what was nice about Yoh-niisan. He was very considerate and always tried to make him feel happy. Tsuki stared at the earring, hoping that it would somehow tell him what to do.

"What's this? You have to do an essay in elementary school?" asked a slightly mischievous voice next to his ear.

Tsuki quickly turned around, his debate about who to write about totally forgotten.

He blinked, wondering if Yoh-niisan's hair had suddenly grown by a foot within a day, but since that was impossible, he felt a wide smile appear on his face. Besides, he knew that voice all too well.

Tsuki held out the earring towards the older boy, gladly watching as he fixed it on his ear.

* * *

Yoh was now a first year in high school. At school, he was used to being ignored. He was a lazy, insignificant student who slept in class more often than not. He never paid attention and he didn't try hard to impress the other students. He already had Anna and Manta. That was more than enough at school.

So, most people just dismissed him as a nobody.

Yoh was surprised, to say the least, when two older girls who he had never talked to approached him, giggling. He wracked his brains for their names, wondering who they were and why they wanted to talk to him.

"Hi, Asakura-kun," said one of the girls. She was quite tall. Judging by her looks, she was probably a third year.

"Um, hi," replied Yoh, not sure what else to say.

The other girl giggled as she eyed him up and down. Yoh shivered, feeling as if she was eyeing a piece of juicy meat instead. What was Anna going to think when she saw this? He prayed that she wasn't glancing this way. Even better, he prayed that she wasn't even in the room.

The first girl pushed the other girl out of the way, eager to speak in her place. "Say, Asakura-kun, do you happen to have a twin?"

Yoh blinked. "How do you know that?"

The second girl squealed, despite being pushed away. "See! I told you he had a twin!"

The two girls got into a heated argument with each other. Yoh didn't particularly want to cut into this fight that was dangerously spiraling towards a catfight, but he couldn't just drop the matter either.

"Wait, how do you know that I have a twin?" asked Yoh again, trying to get any of the older girls' attention.

They paused in their fighting long enough to give him an appreciative look-over.

Yoh shivered.

Finally, one of the girl's smiled sweetly.

"Oh, twins are just ADORABLE." They nodded their heads simultaneously, agreeing with each other. Yoh sweatdropped. He thought that this conversation was getting him nowhere, until the two girls continued speaking.

"We saw him at the office. I guess your twin is transferring in today? Why didn't you ever mention him to us? He looks like such a hottie with his long hair trailing behind him, though I must say that you're pretty cute yourself," purred the older girl.

Yoh's heart pounded quickly within his chest as he stumbled to get out of the room for two reasons. One, his twin was here. He had been waiting for this moment since forever. Two...he had to get way from those freaky girls. RIGHT NOW. When he finally got out the door, he could still hear them talking about a "fan club" or something along those lines. He seriously hoped he had heard wrong.

He ran towards where the administration office was. It was on the ground floor while he was on the third floor. He had been ordered by his teacher to help the third years decorate their classrooms for the culture festival as his punishment for being late to school. He jumped down the stairs two at a time, wanting to get there as fast as he could.

"Hey, Yoh-kun, where are you heading?" shouted Manta when Yoh passed by in a blur.

Yoh didn't stop as he yelled back, "Our sempai-tachi saw my twin at the office!"

Manta's eyes widened. "Wait! I'll go with you!"

So, the two of them ran down the stairs, even encountering Anna along the way. Who knows why they were all on the stairs that day. They just happened to be there. Together, they all ran towards the office.

"Hey, no running in the hallways!" yelled one of the teachers as the three teenagers ran past him.

"Sorry, this is an emergency!" Yoh shouted back.

They didn't see the stung look on the teacher's face for being flipped off so easily, not that it would have mattered at all to them. Nothing at this point would have stopped them from heading towards the office.

When they slammed the door open, Yoh's twin turned around in mid-speech with the principal, one sole earring dangling from his left ear.

He was back.

Yoh noticed that he was wearing the earring that Tsuki had kept. That meant that he had visited Tsuki already. Yoh reached into his pockets, pulling out the other star earring.

* * *

Yoh didn't telephone people often, but he wanted Ren to know everything that had happened. Once Ren picked up, he started talking about how his brother had become the Shaman King and remembered his past. He talked about how the Patch referees had received so many complaints about Hao becoming the Shaman King that Goldva finally relented and asked Hao what the Great Spirits' will was. When Hao consulted the Great Spirits that was residing in him, he had frowned and said, "It wants me to go live a day with all of the people who have sent complaints and show them how I've changed. My gosh...the Great Spirits is CRAZY. That's not doable." But after he uttered those words, he had retracted them, saying that if he couldn't convince this handful shamans to trust him, then how was he supposed to take care of the entire world? With those words, he had set out to meet all of his former enemies. And by the Great Spirits, he had A LOT. Yoh wryly mentioned to Ren that Hao still wasn't finished with all the people who had sent him complaints. Some people had taken him more than a few days to convince. Right now, he was just registering for school, planning to juggle school, family, and being the Shaman King all at once.

Ren laughed over the phone. "Imagine that...filing a complaint about the Shaman King only to have him appear at your doorstep. Maybe I should have filed a complaint too to make him even busier."

Yoh felt a wide smile spread across his face and a warm feeling bubble inside of him. He picked at the cord of the phone as he spoke with Ren. "Man, I should have done that! Then he would have visited sooner. Never mind all that talk about Hao's adventures. Let's talk about something else. Remember when I first met you a while back?"

Ren nodded, not really knowing where Yoh was going with this abrupt change in topic. But, he wasn't left in the dark for long. Yoh continued to speak as his eyes followed a certain, laughing twin brother of his who he was overly glad to have back in his life.

"You said that 'there are no stars in Tokyo.' And then you asked me if I agreed with you. Well, here's my answer now. No, I don't agree. There's a star right in front of me at this very moment. My brother. Our Shaman King. Don't you agree?"

When Ren didn't say anything in reply, Yoh continued speaking.

"He shines so brightly. He's like the stars that watch over us. He's a wonderful Shaman King."

The topic of discussion between the two boys, as if he knew he was being discussed, turned towards Yoh with a raised eyebrow. His earrings glittered under the moonlight. Yoh waved at him, complete with a few gestures that seemed to usher his twin to continue doing whatever he had been doing.

He smiled and Yoh could have swore that the night suddenly became brighter.

Like the name he had taken on, it had taken Hoshi a long time for his light to reach them. Granted, it hadn't taken light years, but it had taken more than 1000 years, which was a long time in the human perspective. But no matter what, Yoh was happy that his light finally did reach them.

* * *

He lay on the soft grass with his eyes closed, enjoying the night breeze. When he opened his eyes, they had already adjusted to the darkness of the night.

It was pitch black, but it didn't matter.

He could see.

The twinkling stars dotted the night sky. They were tiny dots of light, but he knew that their presence was anything but tiny.

This entire world...was his.

He reached out with his hand, as if grasping the stars in the palm of his hand.

He wondered if he had lived up to his second namesake.

Did he shine as brightly as the stars in the night sky?

"Hoshi-niichan! Looking at the stars again?"

He glanced towards Tsuki without sitting up, smiling slightly at being called that name. He would probably always be "Hoshi-niichan" to Tsuki. Laying here, he could still pretend to be that boy who had been so wholeheartedly accepted into the family. He could once again be Hoshi, and push the thoughts about being Hao, the Shaman King, aside for a few peaceful moments. He spotted the exuberant face of Tsuki and the smiling face of Yoh.

"Care if we join you?" asked Yoh.

He shrugged.

Tsuki and Yoh plopped down on both sides of him, laying comfortably on their backs.

Together, all three boys spent the night gazing at the stars.

Together, the wind gently played with the boys, caressing their faces as they fell into peaceful slumber.

* * *

Watching on the side like the wide, encompassing sky that her name alluded to, Sora was careful not to wake them when she saw that they had finally fallen asleep. Silently, she covered her children of the night with warm blankets. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw Tsuki rubbing his nose, Hoshi snuggling into the blankets, and Yoh grinning in his sleep. She leaned down, her long ponytail almost tickling their faces.

"Thank you," she whispered.

When Sora left the boys' sides, a soft reply could be heard.

"No, it should be _thank you._"

He was no longer alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end for this fic! Check out Hoshi no Hikari for prequels, sidefics, and mini sequels.


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